Zinneke Parade

The Zinneke Parade is a street parade that takes place every two years in the Belgian capital, Brussels. It was created in 2000 to bring together the different cultures, communities and neighborhoods of Brussels.

In 2000, Brussels was one of the nine cities designated as a European Capital of Culture, along with Avignon, Bergen, Bologna, Helsinki, Krakow, Prague, Reykjavik and Santiago de Compostela. The Zinneke Parade was created as part of the European Capital of Culture program; it was conceived as a multicultural carnival that would highlight the cultural richness and cosmopolitan nature of Brussels. The main objective of the parade is to build bridges between the city of Brussels and the nineteen communes of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as between the French-speaking, Dutch-speaking and bilingual inhabitants of the city.

Zinneke is the nickname that the inhabitants of Brussels once gave to the Lesser Senne (also known as the Brussels Canal), a section of the river Senne that surrounded Brussels outside the city walls until the late 19th century. Over time, it also came to mean “street dog” or “mutt” because street dogs were sometimes thrown into the Senne. Today, the word Zinneke also refers to the inhabitants of Brussels, emphasizing that they come from many different backgrounds.

The organizers of the parade chose the name Zinneke to reflect its diverse and multicultural nature. The Zinneke Association promotes cooperation between the residents, associations, institutions, cultural centers, organizations, societies and schools from different neighborhoods of Brussels, bringing together people who otherwise never cross paths.

For more than a year prior to each parade, residents collaborate with professional artists to create artistic projects that will be featured in the parade. These projects are made by groups called the Zinnodes. Each group consists of an artistic team, several partners, and 60 to 100 residents from different neighborhoods, backgrounds, and ages.

For each edition of the Zinneke Parade, the organizers choose a new theme. Past themes have included “La ville” / “De stad” (“The City”), “Zinnergie”, “Le corps dans la ville” / “Het lichaam in de stad” (“The Body in the City”), “Toekomst à venir” (“Future to Come”), “Eau” / “Water” (“Water”), “A table” / “Aan tafel” (“Come to the Table”), “Désordre” / “Wanorde” (“Disorder”), “Tentation” / “Bekoring” (“Temptation”), “Fragil” (“Fragile”), “Illegal”, “Trompe l’oeil” / “Optische illusie” (“Optical illusion”), and “PlaiZir” (“Pleasure”). The theme of the 2020 parade was supposed to be “Wolven!” / “Aux loups!” (“Wolves”), but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each edition of the Zinneke Parade brings together about 2,500 participants and attracts between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators from all over the country and abroad. Unlike many other parades that include motorized vehicles and sound systems, the Zinneke Parade prides itself on being “100% human”: there are no motorized vehicles, and all music is performed live without amplification.