Forest National ( French) or Vorst Nationaal (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

) is a multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located in the municipality of

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. The arena can hold more than 8,000 people. It hosts indoor sporting events as well as concerts done by a wide variety of artists. The arena, which opened in 1970, offers between 2,500 and 8,000 seats, depending on the event and is a member of European Arenas Association (EAA). Known for its circular interior, it is owned by the Music Hall Group and operated by the Sportpaleis Groep.

History

Forest National opened on 8 October 1970 with a performance by

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...

Ballet of the 20th Century Ballet of the 20th Century (french: Ballet du XXme Siècle), was a ballet and contemporary dance company in Brussels, Belgium in 1960, by the French/Swiss choreographer Maurice Béjart. For many years it was the official dance company of the Théât ...

. Then it had a capacity of 5,500 seats. A renovation followed in 1995, which increased the capacity and improved lighting and sound systems. In 2005, there were plans for a new venue on the border with

Drogenbos Drogenbos (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality only comprises the town of Drogenbos proper. On January 1, 2018, Drogenbos had a total population of 5,599. The total area is 2.49 km² (0. ...

and Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. It was to be almost twice as large (12,000 to 15,000 seats) and should have been opened in September 2010. However, on 3 September 2008, it was announced that the owner, Music Hall Group NV, had decided not to build a new concert hall. In 2013, the Sportpaleis Group took over the operation of the hall, while Music Hall Group remained as the owners. The following year, renovations followed, with the seats numbered and new foyers provided. One of these foyers is located in an old backstage room where a 'Wall Of Fame' was created because artists wrote personal messages on the wall. This can be visited by the public. The renovation works were carried out in 2014 by Mathieu Gijbels and ABV + Architecten.

Events

Forest National has hosted sports competitions such as the

Donnay Indoor Championships The Brussels Indoor (also known as the ''Donnay Indoor Championships'') is a defunct professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at Forest National in Brussels. It was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit initially and later, f ...

from 1981 to 1992 and the

Belgian Basketball Cup The Belgian Basketball Cup (Dutch: Beker van België), for sponsorship reasons the EuroMillions Cup, is the top tier national basketball cup competition in Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom o ...

since the 2014–15 season. It was the home arena for

Brussels Royal IHSC Brussels Royal IHSC was an ice hockey team in Brussels, Belgium. The team played in the Belgian Hockey League. History The club was founded in 1909 as Brussels IHSC. They won the 1912 and 1913 Belgian championships. They became Entente Saint-Sauv ...

ice hockey team. Between 18 and 20 September 2015, in front of a total of 17,000 spectators, a new record attendance record for the Davis Cup in Belgium was set in the semi-final between

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(3:2).

Noted performers

Angèle Angèle is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Angèle (singer) (born Angèle Van Laeken, 1995), Belgian singer * Angèle Dola Akofa Aguigah (born 1955), Togolese archaeologist * Angèle Arsenault (1943–2014), Canadian-Acadi ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

* Avril Lavigne * Axelle Red * Björk *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

* Bon Jovi *

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

* Depeche Mode * Deus * Diana Ross * Dire Straits *

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

* Eric Clapton *

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Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurle ...

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

* Frank Zappa * Garou * Gloria Estefan * Gorillaz * Green Day *

Hooverphonic Hooverphonic is a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a singular genre, but rather encompass altern ...

* Indochine *

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

* Janet Jackson * Jethro Tull *

Johnny Clegg Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

* Kylie Minogue *

Lara Fabian Lara Sophie Katy Crokaert (born January 9, 1970), better known as Lara Fabian, is a Belgian-Canadian pop singer and songwriter. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide as of 2021Broadway World (2017)"Lara Fabian annule finalement sa tourn ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

* Loïc Nottet * Lost Frequencies * Mariah Carey * Marilyn Manson * Metallica *

Michel Polnareff Michel Polnareff (born 3 July 1944, Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a French singer-songwriter, who was popular in France from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s with his penultimate original album, ''Kāma-Sūtra''. He is still criticall ...

Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor. He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...

* Mika *

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

* New Order * Niall Horan *

Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...

* Oasis *

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition in the late 2010s with her lead roles on the Disney television programs '' Bizaardvark'' and '' High School Musical: The Musi ...

* Olivia Ruiz *

Ozark Henry Piet Goddaer (born 29 April 1970 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian musician, better known by his stage name Ozark Henry. , he has released nine studio albums under the name Ozark Henry. In 2001, he released the album ''To All Our Escapes'' under the nam ...

Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo (; born 8 January 1965) is a French singer-songwriter. Biography Pascal Obispo, son of Max Obispo (a former Bordeaux Girondins football player of Basque origin) and Nicole Guérin (originally from Angers), was born on 8 J ...

* Pink Floyd * Phil Collins *

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

* Roxette * Slayer *

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

* The Prodigy *

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots (stylized in all lowercase or as twenty øne piløts) are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who ...

* U2 *

Véronique Sanson Véronique Marie Line Sanson (; born 24 April 1949) is a three-time Victoires de la Musique award-winning French singer-songwriter and record producer with an avid following in her native country. Ten years after Barbara, Véronique Sanson beca ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Brussels Sports venues in Brussels Forest, Belgium Culture in Brussels Indoor arenas in Belgium

History

Events

Noted performers

See also

References

External links