Paris Olympics: Wallonia-Brussels days

From 7 to 11 August, Belgium House in the centre of Paris will be buzzing with the colours of Wallonie-Bruxelles. Music, comedy, magic and sculpture will be on the programme for these 5 days. The Olympics are also an opportunity for Moov Insights to introduce its application, which combines sport and health, to the general public and sportsmen and women from all over the world. Michelin-starred chef Ricarda Grommes, from St Vith, will be delighting visitors' taste buds. 

The Belgium House is the ideal meeting place for partners, athletes and all the supporters present in Paris to soak up the Olympic atmosphere. "It's important to have an Olympic house, and it'll be an opportunity to show that Belgium is bursting with talent," says Jean-Michel Saive, President of the Belgian Olympic Committee.

Ideally located in the heart of the French capital, just a stone's throw from the Champs-Elysées, this Belgium House offers a rich programme of events, including numerous concerts. The events will also be broadcast live on a giant screen, and starred Belgian chefs from the country's three regions will be on hand throughout the Games to showcase our gastronomic specialities.

Gastronomy: Michelin-starred chef Ricarda Grommes

From 7 to 11 August 2024, star chef Ricarda Grommes from Wallonia will be cooking up a storm during the Wallonia-Brussels Days.

"Ricarda Grommes doesn't seek the limelight. She prefers to concentrate on her pleasant, elegantly designed restaurant. You can feel her desire to do things well". This is how the Michelin Guide describes the woman it has awarded the "Michelin Woman Chef 2017". That same year, it also awarded a star to her restaurant, Quadras in Saint-Vith.

Ricarda offers extremely refined local cuisine, with a strong emphasis on high-quality products and varied creations. It's also an opportunity to showcase Walloon products during these few days of Olympic festivities. The two Walloon beers selected for the Belgium House are Paix Dieu from Brasserie Caulier (Péruwelz) and Houblonde (Braine-le-Château).

Moov Insights: the app that combines sport and health  

With his 100% Belgian application developed north of Tournai, Laurent Baijot is aiming to curb the sedentary lifestyle of young people in partnership with the University of Mons. He will be at Belgium House to present this new device combining sport and health.

Laurent Baijot, who previously founded an innovative running application, wants to go even further. "We've seen that the level of physical fitness among young people has fallen by more than 30% compared with their parents' generation. Chronic pathologies are going to develop earlier and earlier in Europe". This alarming finding has prompted him to work with ADEPS and the major faculties of motor science to "propose ways of curbing this sedentary lifestyle".

Visitors to Belgium House in Paris will be able to try out this innovative digital solution, capable of measuring various parameters of physical condition (such as coordination, strength and balance), combining a system of webcams, algorithms and powerful computers capable of capturing every movement of the human body to establish a precise diagnosis.

A rich and varied cultural programme

07/08 Humour with Elastic & Francesca

Elastic & Francesca are a couple both in the city and on stage. He (Stéphane Delvaux, aka Elastic) is an engaging burlesque character with an Italian accent who takes his audience on a journey through the world of circus and music hall. With a career spanning over 30 years, this internationally acclaimed cabaret artist has been applauded throughout Europe and beyond (Japan, Russia, Canada). She (Françoise Rochais, known as Francesca) is a professional juggler. She won the gold medal in Las Vegas in 1995, becoming world juggling champion. She performs in over 30 countries around the world.

07/08 to 10/08 Funcky Fool DJ sets

 © Max Ywert

Funcky Fool (DJ & Producer): "Sport and music get people out of their everyday lives. Culture and sport are important to represent a country. This young Belgian producer from Rixensart started DJing at the age of 13. He will be releasing his first EP in 2021 on the Lost Frequencies label: Continuum.

08/08 The concert by Typh Barrow, our Belgian Amy Winehouse

©J. Van Belle - WBI

Typh Barrow is a French-speaking Belgian singer-songwriter and pianist. Her musical style blends pop and soul music with jazz and blues accents. Some in the media consider her to be the Belgian Adèle or Amy Winehouse.

Her debut studio album RAW went straight to No. 1 in the album charts. In 2017 and 2018, she was nominated in the Female Artist of the Year category at the D6bels Music Awards, and in 2019 received the Artist of the Year award at the Octaves de la musique.

Since 2019, she has been one of the four coaches of The Voice Belgium.

09/08 A touch of magic with Maxime Mandrake

@Arnaud Banier

Maxime Mandrake (magician): "This will be an opportunity to show Paris the wealth of talent we have in Wallonia. Magic requires perseverance to achieve excellence and to push back the limits.

The 27-year-old stands out from other magicians with his atypical style, combining charm, poetry and elegance. His world combines dreams and imagination.

Since 2019, he has been a member of the famous magic arts academy The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. In 2023, he won a gold medal and a silver medal at the World Performance Arts Championship.

11/08 Henri PFR on the decks

@2022 Press Bio

Henri PFR is a Belgian DJ, musician and composer. Born in Brussels, he became interested in electronic music at the age of 14. When he posted his first mixtape, Summer Memories, on the YouTube channel La Belle musique, with over 70 million views, he attracted the attention of Armin Van Buuren's Armada label, with whom he signed his first two singles, including Tarida.

He then collaborated with German producer Robin Schulz to remix his track Sugar before releasing on the Sony Music label One People, Home and in October 2016, Until The End.

In 2018, he was the overall winner of the third edition of the D6bels Music Awards and also received an Octave de la musique for "show/concert of the year". He performed at numerous festivals, including Tomorrowland. In 2020, he became coach of The Voice Belgium.

10/08 The powerful voice of Mentissa

©J. Van Belle - WBI

Mentissa (singer): "I hope to see people from all over the world. I like the fact that the Olympic Games attract people from all over the world.

This French-speaking Belgian singer-songwriter was a finalist in The Voice in 2021. The song Et Bam, written by her coach Vianney, launched her career. Her first album, La Vingtaine, was released in 2022. In 2023, she became a coach on Season 11 of The Voice Belgique and was also named French-speaking female artist of the year at the NRJ Music Awards.

Pierre Larauza's sculptures in motion

20 février 1998, Nagano-© Pierre Larauza (photo Step. Roy)

Pierre Larauza (Transitscape asbl) is a French sculptor based in Brussels and supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation as part of the Olympic Games. He has been selected for the Cultural Olympiad of the Paris 2024 Olympics to exhibit 4 sculptures (at the Zénith in Paris and the Carreau du Temple, in particular) and to run residencies in 5 venues in Paris and Strasbourg.

This artist creates sculptures around "movement", particularly the breakdown of movement in sport.  

Pierre Larauza will also be taking part in the round table organised on 6 August at the headquarters of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie in Paris, as part of the agreement signed between the OIF and Paris 2024. The aim of the event is to raise the profile of sport and culture through the voices of young French-speaking people eager to promote shared values, broaden their vision of humanity and explore new possibilities.