The tenth edition of the Passa Porta Festival, one of the most significant literary events in Europe, will take place from the 27th
to the 30th of March 2025. More than 100 writers and artists will animate a long weekend of multilingual encounters at a dozen venues in the heart of Brussels. We are thrilled to unveil the theme that will run like a thread through this year’s festival: ‘Ghosts’. A multifaceted theme that will inspire some sixty encounters in which readings, interviews, panel discussions, workshops, performances, images and music will showcase the best of contemporary literature in all its possible forms.

Power to the imagination in Brussels! Next spring, a hundred writers and artists will animate the city, as literature takes over the capital for four days. Welcome to the Passa Porta Festival!

Every two years, the international house of literature Passa Porta hosts a multilingual festival, the largest literary event in the Benelux and a regular fixture in the calendar of many readers.

For its 10th edition, the Passa Porta Festival once again takes us on a wonderful voyage of discovery into contemporary literature, driven by an inspiring theme: GHOSTS. Each new book conjures up the ghosts of past writers, while casting its shadow into the future. Writers never die. From 27 to 30 March, they will conspire with ghosts to turn Brussels into a great literary hall of mirrors.

Authors, musicians, artists, and actors will explore the different aspects of this theme and confront the ghost worlds of family, love, and politics. Writers will poke holes in time and space, debate the shadowy sides of history, and reflect on apocalyptic visions of the future.

You won’t find any ghostwriters at the 10th Passa Porta Festival, but there will be plenty of flesh-and-blood writers to enthral you with the most vibrant works of literature.

On the programme

The full programme will be revealed in February, but you can already save the following dates:

Thursday 27 March

Opening night with an international author.

Friday 28 March

Five international authors read a new text in ‘Ghost Stories’, a haunting evening at La Monnaie.

Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March

Meetings, interviews, panel discussions, readings, reading clubs, concerts, book signings, workshops, walks, tours, and performances at a dozen cultural hotspots in Brussels, making for two days of literary celebrations.

Today we are also launching the ‘early bird’ tickets for the festival. You can buy a discounted weekend pass from 2 December to 31 January.