3 September 2026
On Sunday September 13th, a one-day indoor festival will take place in the small town
of Oostakker in Belgium. Nothing unusual so far. But wait, here it comes. Within about
12 hours, 37 Belgian bands/acts, I repeat, 37 Belgian bands/acts will perform.
Each one of them gets 15 minutes to show what their musical potential is all about and
try to earn themselves a minimum of 15 minutes of fame afterwards. There you go, this
is a musical event of a calibre I’ve never seen or heard of in Belgium. Impressive, just impressive.
The festival is named Kill Your Darlings, after a 30-year-old rock song by Belgian brothers Soulwax (from their debut full-length Leave The Story Untold), who turned their musical direction upside down over the years, from a post-punk force to an EBM techno turbine that made them internationally famous.
But it goes further than just that. Soulwax was, a long time ago, a laureate of a Belgian showcase for emerging musicians. It was organised by a guy named Vincent Welvaert.
Today he’s the managing director of a Tourbus Agency, and operator of a multi-functional music centre called Goed Leven (Dutch for Good Life), and he’s also co-organizer of this upcoming, unprecedented festival that shares much of the same DNA as back then with Soulwax: discovering young talent, giving them opportunities, and above all, a great love for music.
With so many Belgian bands around, picking the right ones becomes difficult. Kill Your Darlings, as they say. A nod to Soulwax, to a long-past Belgian showcase, and a lasting curiosity for what tomorrow holds.
Along Welvaert the driving force and instigator of the upcoming fest is Didier Becu,
co-founder of very popular Belgian music website Luminous Dash, which focuses
mainly on, I’m sure you guessed it… Belgian artists.
Becu is a 24/7 music junkie (like me, no wonder we’re buddies) who started to organise
gigs for up-and-coming acts in small venues/clubs/bars a few years ago. Now he goes for
a big Belgian bang.
“37 bands in one day is madness, but so was Woodstock”
Tell us about it Didier: “The idea for Kill Your Darlings originated when I crossed paths with Vincent Welvaer. Soulwax was one of the first bands he worked with. There is so much talent
in Belgium, but it is a matter of luck whether they can become your darlings or not.
My love for Belgian music began as a child by listening to the radio, to a Belgian sort
of John Peel DJ . After years of writing my own fanzines and contributing to all kinds of
websites, I bumped into Ann Cnockaert, with whom I founded Luminous Dash. After a few years, it became clear to me that my favorites had no stage, so I decided to organize concerts myself.
A circuit that resulted in this huge turning point when I found a soulmate in Vincent. We both realized that 37 bands in one day is madness, but so was Woodstock. A good fairy—whether
or not with long blonde hair—whispers to me that Kill Your Darlings will be the first of many adventures.”
Maybe this Belgian tour de force can inspire music junkies out
there, outside of our little country, to stage something similar.
Full line-up.
