De Gordel (English)

Introduction

De Gordel originally started as an extra-political happening to raise the matter of the increasing frenchification of the municipalities around Brussels, but it became one of the largest sporting events in Belgium. After 32 editions, De Gordel in its traditional form came to an end in 2012.

The first edition of De Gordel took place on 27 September 1981 as a cooperation between a local cycling club, local sociocultural associations and Flemish action committees, united in the working group ‘Wij houden van alle mensen die het Vlaams karakter van onze gemeente eerbiedigen’ (We love all people who respect the Flemish character of our municipality). Sint-Genesius-Rode, at that time the only one of the six municipalities with language facilities where there was a Dutch-speaking majority, was the starting point for a cycling event that wanted to bring the issue of the municipalities in the Flemish periphery around Brussels to the attention. As of the following editions, De Gordel grew into a more widely supported initiative and as of 1983, Bloso (the Agency for the Promotion of Physical Development, Sport and Open-Air Recreation) became the principal advocate of the event. The first edition had about 1,000 participants, but De Gordel grew into a mass event with tens of thousands of registered cyclists and hikers. In 1993 a record number of 112,655 Gordelaars were counted.

Political angle

De Gordel partly originates from the Flemish reaction to the Egmont Pact in the late 1970s. Although the community pact was not approved in the end, the concessions proposed to the French-speaking immigrants who came to live in 'de Rand', the municipalities in the Flemish periphery around Brussels, and especially the right to enrolment in the so-called Egmont municipalities were indigestible. The protest, combined in the anti-Egmont Committee, had received a broad basis in all sorts of extra-parliamentary actions and had led to the action ‘Waar Vlamingen thuis zijn’ (Where Flemings are at home), among other things. Through this awareness campaign, the organisers, supported by a number of local authorities, wanted to convince both the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking inhabitants to respect the Dutch-language character of the municipalities in a positive manner, without sending out messages 'of being against something' or wanting to put forward the message in a radical manner. 'Charmeren in plaats van protesteren' (Charm instead of protest) was the device, because a defensive campaign often had the opposite effect.1 Given the fact that the municipalities with language facilities lay somewhat outside of the zone of action of the 'Waar Vlamingen thuis zijn' campaign, the working group 'Wij houden van alle mensen die het Vlaams karakter van onze gemeente eerbiedigen’ specifically focused on these six municipalities. The campaigns used hearts and the first Gordel posters and the first Gordel song also were an ode to the six municipalities.2

De Gordel thus linked up with the basic idea to bring the situation in the Flemish municipalities of the Brussels periphery to the attention in an alternative and positive manner, more particularly through a sporting event. At the same time, the organisation wanted to underline the Flemish and green character of the municipalities involved. As a result, its name linked up to the concept of the 'Groene Gordel' (Green Belt) as an answer to the unbridled urbanization of the municipalities in the late 1960s and to the 'Gordel van Smaragd’ (Emerald Belt), which set out the cultural centres in 'de Rand' as beacons of the Dutch-language culture. Although the sporting and recreational character of De Gordel became gradually more prominent, the political element always remained present in the organiser's discourse throughout the different editions. This awareness-raising aspect was oriented especially towards the rest of Flanders, which adopted a rather indifferent attitude towards the situation in 'de Vlaamse Rand'. Ever since the first Gordel, the community issues have almost incessantly dominated the political events. In the last years, especially the demand to split the electoral district came to the fore. For politicians, this annual event was a fine opportunity to be in the media and to present an image of themselves that is both sports-loving and Flemish, for instance by having political messages on their t-shirts, among other things.

Reactions

Annual sabotage actions were recorded, such as scattered nails and drawing pins on sections of De Gordel or signposts that were moved. In the initial phase and in times of increased community fever, De Gordel was also confronted with opposition from the local authorities of the municipalities with language facilities. During the last Gordel in 2012, the troubles escalated. The lasting disagreement regarding the non-appointment of the three mayors and the run-up to the 2012 municipal council elections resulted in a community bidding up and urge to profile. The bench of Mayor and Aldermen of Sint-Genesius-Rode refused to be a meeting point any longer and Linkebeek as well invoked safety arguments and matters of procedure to have De Gordel not take place in the municipality. Ultimately, solutions were found and the last edition of De Gordel took place without problems.

La Bretelle

In 2008, La Bretelle was organised for the first time as the French-language answer to De Gordel. With a comparable sporting event through Brussels and the municipalities with language facilities, the organisers want to promote the role that Brussels plays as the capital of Europe and to tighten the bonds with the hinterland. The mobilisation for La Bretelle or De Bretel takes place in the two languages. The organisation also does not want to oppose anything, but intends to work in a complementary manner. On the website, the initiative is described as ‘a supplement to De Gordel’. Just like De Gordel, La Bretelle takes place annually, on the first Sunday of September, and it attracted a few hundred participants.

Sporting mass event with peripheral entertainment

Although the basic idea of the organisers of De Gordel was to bring the Flemish character of 'de Rand' to the attention, there is no sign of this on the posters. Slogans such as 'gordelen moet je doen' (De Gordel is something you do), 'de tofste zondag' (the best Sunday) and 'feest' (party) indicated that the sporting and recreational elements were clearly brought to the fore. For most participants, De Gordel was synonymous with an annual sporting or family outing. From a small-scale cycling event, De Gordel had grown into a professionally organised mass event with different courses for cyclists, mountain bikers and hikers (with various thematic walks and wheelchair courses), but also the peripheral entertainment for all ages and musical performances increasingly turned De Gordel into a sports-loving festive event. Bloso's activities were aimed at everyone and the De Gordel offer consequently had to try and serve the broadest possible public, including sports enthusiasts and recreational sports fans. Low-threshold promotion campaigns, a lot of media attention and an annual Gordel song3 performed by the popular artists of the moment contributed to its great ability to mobilize people. Throughout the years, the partners in the organisation of De Gordel were, among others, the Flemish authorities, the province of Flemish Brabant, Radio 2, the community centres and 'vzw de Rand’.

Gordel for schools

In the margin of De Gordel, De Gordel for schools was also organised as of 1996, as an alternative school outing at the end of the school year. Likewise, the intention is to provide all sorts of cycling and hiking courses to the participants (pre-school children and students from primary and secondary education) in the municipalities of 'de Rand'. In conclusion, there is peripheral entertainment and there are performances by music groups. The most recent edition in 2012 had over 22,000 participants from 267 schools.

Towards a new Gordel formula: the Gordel festival

After 32 editions, the idea of De Gordel changes. Even before De Gordel of 2010, the Administrator-General of Bloso, Mrs Carla Galle, had declared that it was time to come up with something new. The preparations were made to organise, once again, a large sporting event in the municipalities in the Flemish periphery around Brussels on the first Sunday of September 2013.4 As of 2013, the 'vzw de Rand' takes over the coordination of the new event, which will be called Gordel festival. The focus on sport and exercise remains, but tourist promotion and the experience of culture and music also become basic ingredients. Bloso and the province of Flemish Brabant respectively promote the sporting-recreational part and the tourist-promotional part.

FOOTNOTES

1 De Broyer Jan, Sociale marketing, 1983, pp. 93-100.
2 Bellon Michaël, 30 jaar gewogen en bewogen, 2010, pp. 36 e.v.

3 Every year, a different artist took care of the Gordel song. In the early years, the connection with the political situation was clearer. During the first edition, Micha Marah sang ‘Ik Hou Van Alle Zes’ (I love all six of them), in which the political angle was clearly present, but over the years the emphasis lay more on the musical aspect and the fact of exercising together. Through the years, the following artists performed the Gordel song: Will Tura, Connie Neefs, Clouseau, Bart Kaëll, Isabelle A, Samson en Gert, Margriet Hermans, Pop in Wonderland, Kamiel Spiessens, Bart Van Den Bossche, Helmut Lotti, Mama’s Jasje, K3, Voice Male, Coco Junior, Yasmine, Spring, Bart Peeters, Barbara Dex, Sandrine, Belle Pérez, Gene Thomas en Esther, Nicole & Hugo, Wim Soutaer, Laura Lynn, Roel Vanderstukken, Jelle Cleymans, Laura Lynn and Buurman.

4De Standaard, 29 juli 2012, De Gordel wordt samen met kieskring BHV begraven, Farid El Mabrouk.

SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION

• Bellon Michaël, 30 jaar gewogen en bewogen. Geschiedenis van de Gordel, Jubileumboek, Bloso, 2010.
• De Broyer Jan, Sociale marketing. De sensibiliseringscampagne 'waar Vlamingen thuis zijn', Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, onuitgegeven licentiaatsverhandeling, 1983, pp. 93-100.
• Gordelfestival - website
• Bloso - website

IMAGES

• Affiches De Gordel, 1981 - 2012, Bloso-Gordelsecretariaat. With special thanks to General Coordinator Luk Peirlinck