eZgoing

Hello
My wife and I are planning a 10 day break in Belgium after Christmas. We happen to be in Ghent on News Year's Eve. We are in our 50's and looking forward to bid farewell this wretched year in a memorable way. Maybe dinner with music and dancing (we are not terribly bad at it and miss it for too long). Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Many thanks!

lavandula

Hi eZgoing, I found this for you. I haven't stayed in the Van der Valk hotel in Ghent but I have stayed in them in other places and they are high-end and comfortable (one place even had a free minibar in the room). This is a offer of packages with accommodation, grand dinner and dancing:

https://www.hotelgent.be/en/culinary...ears-2021-2022

I also found for you the latest on Covid in Belgium (4 days ago). At the moment only one municipality, Knokke-Heist, is talking about measures, and whether that will broaden out to other municipalities or regions remains to be seen. Meaning that your evening may be cancelled if they decide to shut down indoor events. So do keep an eye on this.

https://www.thebulletin.be/coronavir...stions-answers

Lavandula

lavandula

Oh - I should probably mention:

1. the Van der Valk Ghent is new (opened less than a year ago, April this year I think) so there won't be all too many reviews
2. it is a long way out of town but there appears to be reasonable public transport connections. I don't know if this would be a deal-breaker for you but it's a nice hotel to hunker down in for an evening.

I probably also should have asked what kind of dancing, I can't find all too much about couples dancing apart from this hotel, but there seems to be any amount of disco dancing with DJs in the centre of Ghent. There are also fireworks in the centre.

Lavandula

eZgoing

Hi Lavandula
Thank you for your swift reply.
We are staying at the Reylof. They have their own party, featuring the 20's and requiring formal attire not really our thing. The Van Der Valk seems a better idea but it´s a bit too far away from our hotel. In case you come to know any other options please feel free to share it with us. kind regards

eZgoing

thanks again! I was referring to ballroom dancing. Well, sort of...

lavandula

The Reylof is probably in a better location for sightseeing anyway. Hope you find what you are after, maybe try some of the other big hotels nearer to you, as I am sure there will be other similar options. Sometimes Tulips, who lives in Belgium, comes along to comment also, maybe she has ideas.

Lavandula

lavandula

OK, I also found for you dinner and dancing at a dance school in Ghent:

https://happeningnext.com/event/new-...-eid3a08a1mpmt
Salsa Bachata Kizomba Dansen in Gent Oostende Brussel Eeklo Brugge Oudenaarde Roeselare - Etage Tropical

The snag is that the website is in Dutch (and French). You might be able to mug your way through using Chrome and Google Translate. It also seems to be a way out of Ghent.

I also found a Thé Dansant, an afternoon dance in the three days leading up to NYE:

https://www.upsidedownghent.be/programme/the-dansant/
https://www.upsidedownghent.be/programme/

Seems to have something to do with a dance school, but the websites are in English so you can go ahead and explore.

I think the best bet seems to be the Van der Valk - maybe there would be other events planned if there were not a pandemic, and maybe there will be other events listed later, closer to the time. You could just catch a taxi to the Van der Valk, they had a dinner and dancing package so you wouldn't have to stay overnight. I couldn't find any other hotels with NYE celebrations, the ones I did find, I found using Dutch search terms. Ghent is only a small city. If you are really committed to dancing and the offers in Ghent are not your thing, then maybe try another bigger city (Antwerp, Brussels).

Lavandula