Who was behind the ‘drug prevention’ stand at a Brussels festival?

The City of Brussels’ official listing confirms that Percusounds took place from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 August at Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein. BRUZZ reported that the free festival attracted more than 15,000 people and presented 14 acts across two stages. According to the same report, the City contributed €7,000 to the 2026 edition.

The office of culture alderwoman Nawal Ben Hamou told RTBF, as quoted by BRUZZ, that the Scientology-linked stand was not part of the project submitted to the City’s Events Unit. Her office said it would not have authorised the stand had the affiliation been disclosed and that the incident would form part of the event’s evaluation. Brussels councillor Lotte Stoops of Groen intends to raise the matter at a forthcoming municipal council meeting, BRUZZ reported.

This distinction between the festival organiser and the public authority is useful. City-funded events do not automatically make every exhibitor an official municipal partner. The City’s event guidance says that concerts, festivals, awareness campaigns and promotional activities in public space require prior authorisation. Organisers submit the relevant application to the City of Brussels — the commune in French, or gemeente in Dutch — but the publicly advertised programme does not necessarily identify every subcontractor, volunteer group or invited stall.

Visitors need not conduct a legal investigation at the festival gate. A few proportionate checks are usually enough. Look for the full legal name of the organisation, its ondernemingsnummer/numéro d’entreprise, and a clear explanation of who finances or sponsors the material. Ask whether the people at the stand belong to the festival’s official care team. Genuine emergency or medical staff should be identifiable through the organiser, security desk or first-aid point.

For authoritative drug-policy information, Belgium’s FPS Public Health/SPF Santé publique/FOD Volksgezondheid describes the national approach as evidence-informed and spanning prevention, harm reduction, treatment and enforcement. Its 2026–2029 interfederal strategy is available in Dutch and French. In Flanders and Dutch-speaking Brussels, De Druglijn provides confidential information; French-speaking residents can consult Infor-Drogues. In an immediate medical emergency, call 112 rather than relying on a campaign stall.

If a stand appears to conceal its sponsor, photograph its public signage without confronting staff, note the time and location, and alert the festival information point. For an event on City of Brussels territory — postal codes 1000, 1020, 1120 and 1130 — concerns about the authorised event can also be directed to the City’s Events Unit. Elsewhere in the Brussels-Capital Region, contact the relevant commune/gemeente because the City of Brussels is only one of the region’s 19 municipalities. Visitors can use French or Dutch with municipal services; English may be accommodated, but it is not an official administrative language.

Scientology is not among the religions currently recognised and publicly financed through Belgium’s federal recognition system, according to the FPS Justice material on recognised religions. That status should not be confused with a ban or a finding that every Scientology-associated activity is unlawful. Belgium protects freedom of religion and philosophical belief, including minority beliefs, while event organisers remain entitled to apply neutral and transparent participation rules within the law.

The Church of Scientology presents the Foundation for a Drug-Free World as a secular nonprofit initiative that gives young people and adults information intended to help them avoid drugs. Its own 2026 publicity describes Belgian volunteers conducting anti-drug outreach in Antwerp and Brussels. Percusounds and the City, by contrast, frame this case as a disclosure and screening failure: their objection is that the underlying affiliation was not clear when the stand was accepted.

That is the broader issue exposed by an otherwise small festival booth. Health messaging carries borrowed authority when it appears beside stages, security personnel and municipal branding. Transparent sponsorship allows adults to assess the source and helps parents decide what material their children receive; obscured sponsorship weakens that choice, regardless of the belief system or advocacy group involved.

Percusounds has linked the lapse partly to limited staffing and declining subsidies, according to BRUZZ. The organiser plans to seek new local and regional funding in October and has warned that insufficient support could threaten an eleventh edition. It remains unknown whether the episode will affect those applications, whether the City will change its screening requirements, or how many visitors engaged with the stand. The immediate next steps are the City’s evaluation and the promised municipal-council discussion — both opportunities to establish a simple rule for future festivals: prevention partners should name themselves, their sponsors and their role before they enter the programme.