Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin (2026)

How many time did I want to visit Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin and the Boekenmarkt Tongeren? Probably every year since just after Covid.. but the wonderful celebration of Castlefest always got in between.

But this year, things were different. Almost no events on my Summer calendar due to the focus on opening House of the Red Merlin, a specialty store for TTRPGs, wargames, boardgames, CCG's and some curated novels and both on the Boekenmarkt and in fort de Lantin I was certain to discover some fresh, new, local talent to showcase on the store-shelves.. which I did: Matt Gauthy & Tales by Ruby.

Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin are a gathering of WWII reenactors, including their Willys, trucks and tanks, with concerts, a creators' market, a military market, parties in 1940ties dresses, visits into the bowels of the old military fort, animal demonstrations, and typical for any self-respecting Walloon costuming event: plenty of drink stalls and loads of food.. including: une crêperie.. pancakes! So you know where to find me.

 

 

It was an impressive collection of vehicles, very helpful people always willing to give explanations and background stories, some nice epoque costumes (eventhough we were going through the 4th regional .. 2nd national heatwave of this Summer) and a good, relaxed vibe. And if you know that the revenue of this entire event serves to help the association's continuous reparations to the fort, you understand why I ate even more pancakes than usual. Not gluttony. Not because they were well baked, but to help the association!

Was there to much to see & do for one afternoon? Actually yes.. so that was a minor miscalculation on my part. 

Before scrolling to the pictures:

▶️ All photos can always be found on/downloaded from my Flickr and here!
▶️ A "How to download stills from Flickr" tutorial was posted here.
▶️ Some highlights might go to Instagram, Threads or Bluesky.
▶️ A video might go to Clapper & to Tiktok
▶️ Buy Red Cathedral a whisky on Ko-Fi
▶️ Updates are on THE Facebook.
▶️ Give a follow to this young creative foundation: Deep Red Noise vzw/asbl (incl. a Tiktok account & an Instagram account)
▶️ If you want an openminded store & community hub to buy and enjoy a tabletop RPG, a wargame (yes, including Bolt Action), some card- or boardgames at one of our tables with a mead or a ramune, or to find some curated Scifi/Fantasy/Horror/Thriller novels (and comics), then support the project: House of the Red Merlin , coming to Tongeren. (Read everything on the mock-up page, check the intended genres and give us your feedback. Planned opening:  January 2027) And be the very 1st to follow us on Instagram and on Tiktok !

The full gallery (Click on the arrows on the side to scroll):

UPDATE: 40% of all photos have been processed + uploaded. 

What else do you need to know? Only one thing: go visit it yourself next Summer and don't forget to eat something. 

A direct link to this article: https://tinyurl.com/Lantin2026 (The old blog)
A direct link to this article: https://tinyurl.com/Fortdelantin2026 (The new blog)

NOTE: Yes, there's a new unified webpage combining the old RedCathedral.art (events coverage) and RedCathedral.com (commercial). It's simple, multilingual & to the point.. just like me, I guess.

Namaste