Belgium

Ommegang
rue des tanneurs 182

A parade in brussels that celebrates the beginning of the reign of charles v of habsburg. it takes place on the stunning cityscape of the grand place and involves thousands of stunts in period costume.

Ducasse de Mons

Yearly parade in the city of mons that celebrates the release of a legendary dragon which is displayed every year in the city

Zinnekeparade

The biennial celebration of the brusseler's spirit - the theme changes each time and involves costumes & chariots made by volunteers and locals.

DOCVILLE - International Documentary Film Festival
Naamsestraat 96, 3000 Leuven
+32-16-320300
4.5-6 euro

International Documentary Film Festival in the beginning of May, with national and international competition in the city of Leuven. Selected films have a focus on cinematography.

Having one of the highest labour taxes in Europe, Belgium is struggling to reposition itself as a high-tech country. In that struggle, Flanders is far ahead and much wealthier than Wallonia, in contrast to the previous decades, where Wallonia's steel industry was the main export of Belgium. Highly skilled people will have the most chance to find work, and knowing multiple languages Dutch, French, English and perhaps German is almost a standard requirement. Interim offices providing temporary jobs are flourishing in a search to avoid the high labour taxes.

Belgium has one of the highest tax rates in the world. An employer who pays a salary about €1500 a month actually pays another €1500 or more in taxes. Where does this money go to? It goes to the social network. People only pay a small charge for healthcare, for example. And the budget for education, arts and culture is enormous. The budget for defense is however very tiny.

Although Belgium is undesirable for building wealth, it's a good place for someone who already is wealthy to reside because there is very little capital gains tax some forms of capital gain is not taxed at all.

The different stages of education are the same in all communities:

Basic education Dutch: basisonderwijs; French: enseignement fondamental, consisting of Pre-school kleuteronderwijs; einseignement maternel: -6 years Primary school lager onderwijs; enseignement primaire: 6-12 years

Pre-school kleuteronderwijs; einseignement maternel: -6 years

Primary school lager onderwijs; enseignement primaire: 6-12 years

Secondary school secundair onderwijs; enseignement secondaire: 12-18 years

Higher education hoger onderwijs; enseignement supérieure University universiteit; université Polytechnic hogeschool; haute école

University universiteit; université

Polytechnic hogeschool; haute école

Education is organized by the regions Dutch-speaking Flanders on the one hand, French and German speaking Wallonia on the other and the small federal district of Brussels has schools run by both the Flemish and Walloon authorities. Both states recognize independent school networks, which cater to far more students than the state schools themselves. Most Flemish students go to a Flemish Catholic school. However, every independent school needs to follow the official state curriculum, and catholicism in Flanders has long been extremely liberal anyway.