Who will succeed Patrick De Corte after three decades representing Brussels fairground operators?

Patrick De Corte

Place

Brussels

City and regional setting for the association’s leadership change and the Midi Fair.

Why it matters

City and regional setting for the association’s leadership change and the Midi Fair.

About

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region, and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

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For people living in Brussels, the change matters because this presidency is more than a ceremonial post. Fairground associations represent operators in negotiations with the City of Brussels

Organisation

City of Brussels

Municipal authority responsible for the Midi Fair information and involved in managing its local operating context.

Why it matters

Municipal authority responsible for the Midi Fair information and involved in managing its local operating context.

About

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region, and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

Official site ↗View source record ↗

De Corte is not leaving the fairground community. BX1 reported that he will remain on the Midi Fair’s promotion committee, preserving some continuity while relinquishing the time-consuming work of the union presidency. He has spent much of his life in the trade: a 2024 official fair press file described him as a fifth-generation fairground operator whose family chip stand dates to 1892. His departure therefore represents both an organisational handover and a wider question familiar to family-run trades: how inherited knowledge passes to younger operators facing more regulation and higher technical demands.

He leaves after an unusually strong edition. According to figures announced by Wauters and reported by BX1 and BRUZZ, the fair recorded 1,427,003 visits between 18 July and 23 August, nearly 33% more than the previous edition and the highest attendance since counting began. The City said no major incident was recorded. De Corte credited favourable weather, apart from the hottest days, and praised the security arrangements. The attendance figures are visits rather than a count of unique individuals, but they still demonstrate the event’s reach.

The broader significance lies in the fair’s dual identity as a major public attraction and a temporary workplace and home. The City’s 2026 programme listed about 130 attractions, while BX1 reported that more than 100 operating families and roughly 500 fairground workers were involved. An inventory published by urban.brussels describes fairground culture as a family-transmitted, itinerant profession requiring commercial, mechanical, electrical and heavy-transport skills. It also identifies professional associations as the link between operators and the municipalities that host fairs.

That negotiating role is especially important around the Midi Fair. Residents quoted by BRUZZ in July accepted the tradition but argued that five weeks of festivities, plus assembly and dismantling, placed too heavy a burden on sleep and neighbourhood life. They asked for stricter observance of sound limits and suggested that the loudest rides stop earlier. The 2026 rules capped amplified sound at 90 decibels by day and 75 after 22:00, with 31 large attractions equipped for monitoring.

De Corte presented the operators’ side differently. He told BRUZZ that the sector had already accepted earlier closing times and tighter sound limits, and that late-evening business was essential because many visitors arrived after 20:30. He acknowledged some legitimate complaints but argued that a small, highly active minority opposed a fair that gives enjoyment to more than a million visitors. Fairground operator Kylie Simon likewise stressed that closing hours had already been shortened. The disagreement is not simply tradition against modernity; it concerns how a dense city distributes the benefits and costs of a popular event.

The Midi Fair has occupied the boulevard since the late nineteenth century, while Brussels’ heritage inventory places it within a national circuit running through cities including Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Leuven and Liège. The City also presents Belgian and French fairground culture as recognised intangible heritage, giving the succession cultural weight beyond one annual event without turning it into an EU institutional matter.

Attention now turns to the union’s choice of a new Brussels president and to whether that person changes its approach to residents, municipal regulators and the disrupted Midi district. De Corte has promised support, but the timetable, candidates and selection procedure remain undisclosed. The first real test will be the preparation of the 2027 fair: preserving a successful popular institution while showing neighbours that generational renewal can also bring credible dialogue.