Belgium’s first National Café Day unveils 11 ambassadors
Belgium’s inaugural National Café Day has announced its 11 ambassadors, a diverse group ranging from a former De Mol contestant to a football legend, who will help promote the country’s cherished café culture. The first edition takes place on Saturday, September 12, 2026, and has already drawn nearly 1,000 registered cafés across Flanders within less than three weeks of the initiative’s launch.
The ambassadors were unveiled at a press presentation at café Stinne in Aalst on August 4, as reported by Het Laatste Nieuws. The venue held special significance: café Stinne served as the filming location for the last two F.C. De Kampioenen films, and actress Danni Heylen — who played the beloved ‘Pascalleke’ in the iconic Flemish series for over 30 years — was among the notable attendees.
The ambassadors
The 11 ambassadors represent 11 different Flemish cities: Antwerp, Genk, Hasselt, Aarschot, Leuven, Mechelen, Aalst, Ghent, Bruges, Kortrijk, and Ostend. They include Edmond Cocquyt, Ghent’s unofficial “night mayor” and tireless champion of nightlife; Piet den Boer, the former Dutch international who wrote football history with KV Mechelen’s European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1988; and Uma Vandemaele, the Kortrijk café owner known to Flanders as a contestant on the 2022 season of De Mol, who opened her own bar, Bar Uma, in April 2025.
The lineup also features Ran Van Ongevalle, the award-winning bartender behind Bruges’ renowned cocktail bar Bar Ran, which was named Cocktail Bar of the Year 2024 by Gault Millau, as highlighted by Visit Bruges. Other ambassadors include actor and musician Sam Louwyck from Ostend, Karel Van De Winkel — Prince of Carnival of Aalst in 2025 — and young café owners like Ibe Van Der Auwera of café Den Draad in Aarschot, representing a new generation of hospitality entrepreneurs.
A mission to save café culture
The National Café Day is the brainchild of Ben Mouling, founder of Kroegtijgers, a community dedicated to preserving Flemish café culture. The initiative was launched in July with a stark warning about the state of Belgium’s café landscape.
“Cafés are much more than hospitality businesses,” Mouling said. “They are places where people come together, stories emerge, friendships grow and communities are built. With the National Café Day we want to make that unique role visible again and celebrate it.”
The urgency behind the initiative is clear. According to research bureau Locatus, the number of cafés in Flanders dropped by 32.2% between 2013 and 2023 — from 8,502 to 5,763 establishments, as reported by TAGMAG. That translates to roughly one café disappearing every day. At the current pace, Flanders could be without cafés by 2044.
More than just a drink
The social dimension is central to the initiative. Research from HIVA-KU Leuven shows that more than one in three Flemings feels lonely, and cafés are increasingly recognized as vital “third places” — low-threshold meeting spaces where people spontaneously connect, separate from home and work.
“It is very important to preserve the café as a social meeting place,” Mouling told ROBtv. “Also for the mental health of our population. Because we believe the café is one of the last places where you can truly have social contact with someone, where you can have a real chat.”
Café owners echo that sentiment. Tom Jansen, who has run the traditional brown pub Den Ouden Tijd in Leuven for 25 years, noted that many people who live alone rely on their local café as their only social encounter.
What to expect on September 12
Participating cafés across Flanders will host activities throughout the day, and at 6 PM they will simultaneously ring their café bells for a ‘Tournée Nationale’ — a collective toast to the future of Belgian cafés. The event is supported by major beer brands including Primus, Cristal, Jupiler, Tripel d’Anvers, Maes, and Stella Artois, as detailed on the Kroegtijgers mission page.
Beyond the festivities, the initiative has practical support for café owners. Kroegtijgers collaborates with training providers to offer guidance for aspiring café entrepreneurs, and the first 250 registered cafés receive an exclusive enamel sign. Zorgbedrijf Antwerpen is even organizing its own National Café Day event at Kombine Tuinwijk in Merksem, offering a free sixth drink with every five purchased, as detailed on their website.
The first edition is limited to Flanders, with plans to expand to Brussels and Wallonia next year. The weekend before, the Belgian Beer Weekend takes place, complementing the café culture celebration. As Mouling put it: “The Café Day is a statement. One day a year, young and old should go to the café together and enjoy each other, with or without alcohol.”
With nearly 1,000 cafés already registered and 11 ambassadors ready to spread the word, Belgium’s first National Café Day is shaping up to be a significant moment in the country’s ongoing effort to keep its café culture alive for generations to come.