UCLL Leuven, Belgium

The Oude Markt - legendary not only for us as internationals, but also for all night owls from Belgium. Whenever you feel like going out, just ask the simple question: "Oude?”

The Oude Markt is a market set in a rectangular square surrounded by bars. It is also called the longest bar counter in Europe. The Oude Markt is directly adjacent to the Grote Markt and the City Hall and is therefore in the centre of the student city. Whether you're just meeting for drinks or partying, or are otherwise out and about in the evening, sooner or later everyone finds themselves together on this party mile. What still looks like a cozy market with nice outdoor seating during the daylight hours turns into one of the most popular places for all students in Leuven during the evening hours in no time. Initially still recognizable as a pure bar street, it doesn't take long for all the bars to be transformed into small clubs between 11:30 pm and 0:30 am. This means as many tables and chairs as possible get pushed to the sides to make room for the dance floor, lights are dimmed and replaced by colourful party lighting and behind the bar you now not only find the bartenders but also the DJ, who draws the crowd to the dance floor with party classics.

At the Oude Markt itself there are no clubs specfically, which is why the party venues tend to be quite small and have, for example, no room for jackets, which can often be a bit annoying in winter if you are used to it differently. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is no less boisterous and you can party just as well. Besides, the Oude Markt brings two immense advantages. As we all know, the student body is divided into two groups. The bar goers and the party tigers. By transforming from bar to club, the Oude Markt offers the perfect match between bar street and party mile, all bundled up in one place. This is surpassed by the absolute highlight: free admission everywhere! That's why it's a good idea to move from bar to bar or club to club (as you like to call it) and try everything out.

Compared to Würzburg, where you sometimes pay up to about 10€ for the club entrance, definitely an attractive feature, which is welcomed by every student’s wallet (if you in return do not increase the budget for the drinks by the entrance savings ;-)) ).

Partying in Leuven (attention!) mostly takes place during the week and hardly ever on the weekend... The reason for this? That we will unravel in the blog post around Belgium, the culture and the people there.

The best day of the week to party: Thursday.

Especially during summer, the square is full of people, because before everybody moves on to the clubs to party, the entire market is seated and you meet with friends for a few drinks. It is then that this legendary place exudes the feeling of pure life. Young people would simply say: "Oude is a vibe", which means that the atmosphere and mood there is a very special one and gives the nightlife a very unique feeling of life.

This is exactly why the Oude Markt is one of the experiences you have to have in order to really get to know student life in Leuven. You could almost say no student life without Oude Markt and with that…

... Tschöwen from Leuven