Lunalia Lift Off 2026
Festival of Flanders Mechelen opening party
Enjoy the opening celebration of Festival of Flanders Mechelen, featuring the Mechelen Chamber Orchestra with soprano Charlotte Wajnberg, Roots of Juniper, composer and pianist Brecht Valckenaers, cellist and sound wizard Maya Fridman, the songs of Laurence Servaes and more.
On Saturday 25 April, the festival will burst into life with LUNALIA LIFT OFF. Revel in free concerts throughout the centre of Mechelen: tempting samples that reveal a little of what the festival has to offer. The Mechelen Chamber Orchestra accompanies the soprano Charlotte Wajnberg at St. Rumbold’s Cathedral. Accademia del Piacere – our ensemble in residence – offers a foretaste of what is to come in the cultural centre, in alternation with the vocal ensemble Roots of Juniper, an exciting new discovery. In the Predikherenkerk, pianist Brecht Valckenaers presents a newly composed response to the fiery ecstasy of Scriabin, and we catch a glimpse of the passionate relationship between the poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud through the eyes of the soprano Laurence Servaes. Temperatures soar at nona arts centre, with Maya Fridman and flamenco dancer Conchita Boon.
30% musical Mechelen
30% family day out
40% breathless heat
Admission free.
