Those who enjoy the pomp and pageantry of a historical procession will want to know about the annual Ommegang event, staged in Brussels this year July 5-7.

Ommegang honours the visit of Charles Fifth to the city in 1549 and two colourful processions in the Grand Place are taking place from 9.00pm on the evenings of July 5 and 7 featuring more than 1,400 actors, as well as horses, music, flag-waving and tossing and staged fights between stilt-walkers, some several storeys high. A medieval village and tournaments are offered in the Brussels Park from 12.00 midday to 9.00pm on all three days.

Web: brussel.be/5442