Since June 2020, De Bijloke Music Centre and STAM have been part of the select network of unique Flemish heritage venues authorised to bear the ‘Flanders Heritage Venue’ label. Through this label, Tourism Flanders promotes the MICE sector (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) in our cities worldwide.
International MICE organisers can visit www.bijlokeheritagevenue.be (ENG) for more information about the Bijloke site as a MICE venue.
De Bijloke Music Centre is housed in one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval hospitals and is the oldest building in the world to serve permanently as a concert hall or event venue. The STAM complex includes the associated historic abbey buildings.
These buildings have since undergone architecturally outstanding transformations and, in addition to a state-of-the-art concert hall with superb acoustics and a museum, they also serve as unique conference and event venues. More than seven centuries of development in healthcare and medicine have given the site a distinctive character and atmosphere.
Under the motto ‘nurturing creativity & innovation’, the STAM city museum and De Bijloke Music Centre are jointly positioning themselves as a meeting and conference venue in the MICE market (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions).
Through this strategic positioning, the Bijloke site establishes a substantive link with Ghent’s key economic sectors: biotech, medicine, healthcare and culture. This also fits perfectly with a conference function: looking after participants, recharging their batteries, allowing ideas to mature, and the search for inspiration and creativity. It also aligns seamlessly with the site’s innovative character throughout the centuries.
Various small and large historic spaces, halls and foyers spread across the De Bijloke Music Centre and the STAM allow for events and conferences with over 1,000 people. For conference organisers, the cultural offerings of the museum and the Music Centre are exceptional added assets.
