At the heart of Brussel’s charming Ixelles, the iconic Art Deco Flagey Palace, overlooking two beautiful
ponds, hosted the first edition of the Brussels Tea Festival on 5th October 2024. Organised by The Tea Circle Brussels and made possible also by the sterling work of a team of tea passionate volunteers, this
one-day event welcomed not just the Brussels tea community but also tea lovers from all over Belgium
and Europe.
The Festival had a great line-up of prestigious tea producers, tea brands, tea shops, tea ceramists and
tea personalities from all over the world. This year’s focus was on Korea, with a delegation of five tea
producers, but China, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iran, Georgia and other countries were also well
represented.
For Japan, at The Tea Circle own stand our Tea Catalyst for Belgium Cinzia Merlin also informed the
public of the Global Japanese Tea Association’s activities, Oscar Brekell was there with his own select
tea brand Senchaism, while Marjolein Rijmakers for Ikedoki Tea offered a wide selection of excellent
speciality teas from Southern Japan. Their stands were always crowded, and visitors were curious and
eager to taste and know more about the teas. Oscar also held a pre-festival workshop on single-estate,
single-cultivar senchas that gathered quite a group despite being held in the evening of a working day
and so close to the festival itself. Marjolein had done hers at The Tea Circle in the spring.
On top of about the 30 stands where visitors could enjoy free tea-tasting and purchase top-quality tea
and teaware, the Festival also included four roundtable sessions around four topics: Korean tea, Tea
Tasting Methods, Tea Rituals, starring a panel member from the Urasenke school, and Tea and Climate
Change, moderated by our Belgian Tea Catalyst. Each session had a large and active audience, and the
discussions were interesting and lively with a surprising level of public interaction.
All throughout the day, free activities and tastings were held by high-level professionals on Chinese
calligraphy, tea gastronomy, and Moroccan mint tea. Here too, Japan was at the forefront with a
morning tasting of Japanese tea-based lattes and, later in the day, of Japanese tea-based cocktails as
well as a Chanoyu demonstration by the Belgian Urasenke school.
With an initial attendance forecast of about 150, the 740-people turnout went well beyond The Tea
Circle Brussels’ expectation. The no-profit tea association was flooded with compliments in the post-
festival period, with only two complaints: the festival was too short and only on a Saturday, so many
people were working and unable to attend, and it was a bit too crowded.
Belgium and Brussels clearly have a dynamic tea scene and are eagerly looking forward to more!
*Text and images by The Tea Circle Brussels