Venue - Ostend
Ostend, City by the Sea
OSTEND, CITY BY THE SEA. Ostend – the one and only City by the Sea with about 70.000 inhabitants – offers the advantages of a modern cosmopolitan city and is situated in the Flemish province of West-Flanders. It has undergone a real metamorphosis through several renovations during the past few years. It is also a city with a rich historical past. All of this in combination with the advantages of a seaside resort. Explore the 9 km of sandy beaches, inviting you to sunbath or to take a plunge in the North Sea. Moreover, there is a harbor, a marina and an airport.
Ostend also offers rich gastronomical choices. In the restaurants at the Visserskaai, on the Albert I-Promenade and in the city centre you can taste all the delicacies the sea has to offer.
Window-shopping in Ostend is really fun. Branches of most of the big department stores are established in the centre in the famous Kapellestraat or for a more stylish look you can pay a visit to the more exclusive boutiques in the Adolf Buylstraat and adjacent streets.
Ostend counts various places of interests. There is something for everyone. Cultural minded people can visit the numerous museums for example the Museum for Modern Art (Mu.Zee), the James Ensor House, Fort Napoleon or how the four natural forces of earth, wind, fire, and water have shaped our world at Earth Explorer.
In recent years, the city of Ostend has made tremendous efforts to become more beautiful and modern. The entire city has been stylishly renovated – traditional buildings have been put to new uses and contemporary architecture has been tastefully incorporated. One exponent of this urge to renewal is the restored promenade, which runs along the western edge of town to the Kursaal Ostend. A very successful project, because with a bit of nice weather, the promenade is literally packed with people.
Beautiful, immaculate and well-patrolled sandy beaches, a wide choice of tourist attractions, cafes and restaurants, shopping streets with very little traffic, sports and game facilities such as a golf course and a horse race venue ensures a great stay in Ostend.
Kursaal Ostend: event hall
The Kursaal Ostend is one of the largest and best equipped concert and event halls in Belgium. This is not only due to its location on the sea promenade, but also because of the new concept. Everything is housed under one roof: 3 multifunctional halls, 1 auditorium, 1 meeting centre, 3 restaurants, 1 lounge bar, and 1 Casino gaming room.
The Kursaal Ostend has entertained generations with performances, banquets, premieres and other social events since its creation in 1852. Today, everyone who enters the city is struck by it: just as before, after 2 years of renovations the Kursaal is once again the landmark of Ostend. 2061 persons can enjoy a congress or a concert in the auditorium. 9 meeting rooms provide capacity for 30 to 1030 persons.
Accommodations
Toerisme Oostende vzw offers you a free booking service and will co-ordinate all your bookings for the Dragon Gold Cup.
If you want to make a hotel reservation, you can send us the registration form.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us:
Toerisme Oostende vzw – Monacoplein 2 – B 8400 Oostende – T. +32(0)59 25 53 17
F. +32(0)59 70 34 77 – trade@toerisme-oostende.be – www.toerisme-oostende.be
How to reach Ostend?
Ostend is perfectly accessible and closer than you think.
The motorway ends in Ostend, so your car will take you straight into an underground car park. Buses have their own location in the free parking area situated close to the city centre.
Coming from Britain, once you cross the Channel through the Chunnel or with one of the ferry companies to Calais or Dunkerque, it is only an hour’s drive to Ostend.
25 kilometers from Bruges – approximately 25 minutes
70 kilometers from Courtrai – approximately 50 minutes
65 kilometers from Ghent – approximately 45 minutes
89 kilometers from Lille – approximately 50 minutes
97 kilometers from Calais – approximately 1 hour
120 kilometers from Brussels – approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes (Brussels National Airport)
309 kilometers from Paris – approximately 3 hours
223 kilometers from London – approximately 4 hours and 50 minutes
302 kilometers from Amsterdam – approximately 3 hours
330 kilometers from Cologne – approximately 3 and a half hours
History
Ostend was nothing more than a small village built on an island between the North Sea and a beach lake. Although small, the village rose to the status of 'city' around 1265 when the inhabitants were allowed to hold a market and to build a market hall. The major source of income for the inhabitants was, of course, fishing.
The strategic position on the North Sea coast had major advantages for Ostend as a harbor but also proved to be a source of trouble. The city was frequently taken, destroyed and rampaged by conquering armies. After their independence from the Spanish Empire, the Dutch had preserved some strongholds in the Southern Netherlands, such as the cities of Nieuwpoort and Ostend. Between 1601 and 1604 the Spanish army succeeded in taking Ostend from the 'Geuzen.
After this era Ostend turned into a quiet harbor of some importance. In 1722 the Dutch closed off the entrance to the harbor of Antwerp. Therefore, Ostend rose in importance because the city provided an alternative entrance to the sea. The Southern Netherlands (now Belgium) had become part of the Austrian Empire. The Austrian Emperor Charles VI granted the city the trade monopoly with Africa and the Far-East.
In later times the harbor of Ostend continued to expand because the harbor dock, as well as the traffic connections with the hinterland, were improved. In 1838 a railway connection with Brussels was constructed. Ostend became a transit harbor to England in 1846 when the first Ferryboat sailed to Dover. Very important for the image of the city was the attention it started to receive from the Belgian kings Leopold I and Leopold II. Both liked to spend their vacations in Ostend. Important monuments and villas were built to please the Royal Family. The rest of aristocratic Belgium followed and soon Ostend became known as "The Queen of the Belgian sea-side resorts”.
