Regions
BelgiumOCD 2026 - Info
19th edition : Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2026
Divinely funny: the hidden humour of heritage
Joy is the most beautiful side of faith.
Religious heritage, a mirror to the human soul, also knows how to laugh and celebrate. In art and architecture – especially in the Middle Ages – faith used to be blended with fantasy: mocking gargoyles, evil columns, ghostly mercy seats,... Sculpted winks to a mostly illiterate audience, to inform, to deeply move, or to entertain.
Light, music, and liturgical heydays spark within churches a festive energy. When it comes to humour, it seeks to educate rather than to moralize: it makes one laugh in order to cause reflection within us, because virtue can also come from laughter.
A heritage to rediscover: communal spaces, mentally, artistically, and pleasantly human.
On the upcoming 6 and 7 June, the Open Churches Days will be opening the tourist season in Belgium and Luxembourg. This creates a great opportunity to bring our religious heritage to public attention through a joint effort by officials from municipalities, regions and provinces, along with fellow participants from tourism and culture, as well as church councils and parishes.
Registrations
Participation requirements:- For the members of the network, participation is free.
- For others, a contribution of 70 € is required
- Luxembourg: participation is free for all (costs covered by ErwuesseBildung).
Registration entitles one to:
- the promotional material (posters, badges and flags for new participants or on request, Open Churches brochures)
- a temporary personalised page on our European website openchurches.eu
- various publications to local and national media, the general public, and social media (Facebook, Instagram and Youtube)
