What to Know About Brussels Design Week 2026 (Including Its New Name)

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Brussels Design September has been part of the city’s fall calendar for nearly two decades. In 2026, it has a new name! The festival is now Brussels Design Week, and its 20th edition runs from September 24 through October 4.

The change comes after 19 editions under the Brussels Design September name. The City of Brussels describes this year’s program as a festival devoted to furniture, objects, industrial products, graphic design, and architecture, with particular attention paid to Belgian designers alongside international participants.

Brussels Design Week takes place across the city, so there isn’t one convention center or fairground to navigate. Galleries, studios, cultural institutions, shops, architecture offices, hotels, and other venues participate throughout the 11-day program. The festival expects roughly 100 Belgian and international artists and creators this year, with exhibitions, conferences, debates, workshops, and open-door events spread across several neighborhoods.

Brussels Design September Is Now Brussels Design Week

Anyone who has followed Brussels Design September in previous years will probably still encounter the old name online as the existing website is still at designseptember.be, and earlier press coverage naturally refers to Brussels Design September. For 2026, though, the official event is Brussels Design Week.

The new name makes complete sense when you look at how broad the program has become over the last two decades. Current categories include exhibitions, lectures, open-door events, shops and brands, vintage design, tableware, and Commerce Design Brussels. Ceramics, jewelry, tapestry, upcycling, and other craft disciplines are included too.

The citywide setup also means visitors can build a very different schedule depending on what they want to see. One afternoon could include an architecture office near the Canal, a furniture presentation around Tour & Taxis, and a few galleries in Ixelles. Another could focus almost entirely on vintage dealers or collectible design.

A2D and Koen Van Guijze Bring Architecture and Lighting Together

One confirmed 2026 project pairs Belgian architecture firm A2D with lighting designer Koen Van Guijze. The exhibition takes place at A2D’s offices near Tour & Taxis, inside a renovated early-20th-century customs building.

Van Guijze has worked in lighting for more than 25 years and later developed collections under his own name. His work includes the Sofisticato series produced by Serax, a group of fixtures influenced by brutalist architecture and industrial materials. He has also presented work at COLLECTIBLE and the Contemporary Design Market in Brussels.

The A2D presentation gives visitors a chance to see his lighting within an architectural setting rather than isolated on a trade-fair wall. It also places the exhibition close to Tour & Taxis, where several other Design Week events are scheduled.

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BOOK SPACE Comes to Gare Maritime

Tour & Taxis will also host BOOK SPACE / Beautiful Books for Everyone from September 26 through 28 at Gare Maritime. The Czech Centre Brussels organized the exhibition to mark 60 years of The Most Beautiful Czech Books award.

The display includes comics, children’s books, cookbooks, sports publications, and other titles alongside furniture by Czech designers and manufacturers. Nicole Brock curated the exhibition, while Barbora Kramná developed its graphic identity.

This is one of the places where the Brussels program gets more interesting than a standard interiors fair. Visitors aren’t only looking at furniture or decorative objects. Book design, typography, binding, furniture, and accessibility are all part of the same presentation.

Curated Returns to Mix Brussels

Curated returns to Mix Brussels from September 25 through 27 for its third edition. Thirty-four designers and studios are expected to participate at the former Royale Belge headquarters. Lionel Jadot, founder of Zaventem Ateliers and artistic director of Mix Brussels, developed the event with Mix.

Furniture and functional art are presented throughout the building instead of inside rows of identical booths. Talks, food, and music are scheduled across the three days as well. Admission is free, although visitors need to reserve tickets.

The venue is worth knowing before you go. The former Royale Belge headquarters is a modernist office complex designed by René Stapels and Pierre Dufau in the 1960s. Mix Brussels now occupies part of the property, and Curated uses those interiors as the setting for contemporary collectible work.

Brussels already has a sizable collectible design community, from independent studios and galleries to COLLECTIBLE earlier in the year. Curated gives visitors a concentrated look at that scene during the September calendar.

Vintage Furniture is a Huge Draw

Brussels Design Week also maintains a Best of Vintage category devoted to dealers and galleries specializing in 20th-century furniture, lighting, decorative arts, and collectible objects. Current listings include businesses focused on Italian, Scandinavian, European, and American design.

Several vintage destinations are clustered around Rue Haute, Rue Blaes, Rue des Renards, and neighboring streets. Those addresses overlap with parts of Brussels that already have a long antiques trade, particularly around the Marolles and Sablon.

You could spend the morning at a new Belgian furniture presentation and the afternoon looking through vintage lighting from the 1960s or 1970s without turning the day into a major logistical exercise. That combination is one of the more appealing parts of Brussels Design Week, especially for anyone who prefers a mix of contemporary and older work.

How to Plan for Brussels Design Week 2026

Brussels Design Week runs Thursday, September 24 through Sunday, October 4, 2026, with events throughout Brussels. The official agenda and map are already online, although opening hours and registration requirements vary by venue.

It’s worth organizing the trip by neighborhood once the final program is published. Tour & Taxis and the Canal area have several confirmed events, while central Brussels, Ixelles, Saint-Gilles, the Marolles, and other areas have their own galleries, dealers, studios, and presentations.

The 20th edition should be especially interesting for anyone who knew the festival as Brussels Design September. The name has changed, but many of the things that made the event distinctive are still there: Belgian designers, independent venues, collectible work, vintage furniture, architecture, craft, and exhibitions that don’t fit neatly into one category.

If Brussels is already on your fall travel list, save September 24th through October 4th. More individual events are likely to be added before opening day, so we’ll be checking the program again as we draw closer to September.

And if you can’t make it this fall, stay tuned for COLLECTIBLE Design Fair in Brussels next year, which typically occurs in March.

Written by the DesignDash Editorial Team
Our contributors include experienced designers, firm owners, design writers, and other industry professionals. If you’re interested in submitting your work or collaborating, please reach out to our Editor-in-Chief at editor@designdash.com.