Luxembourg City and the Minett region: the cultural heart of Luxembourg.

At a first glance Luxembourg may seem Serious, formal, detached, but look beyond appearances and you’ll find something else. It only takes a few days to discover that this city has been working for years to nurture art and culture in an area that until fairly recently was exploited for its mineral resources, and to discover that every year with the start of the summer season the city launches an extensive programme of concerts, festivals and events celebrating conviviality.

LUXEMBOURG A CITY THAT LOVES TO PARTY

To experience the lively nightlife in Luxembourg City, check out Urban City in the historic centre on Thursday and Saturday nights, or try the vibrant Rives de Clausen pub-restaurant located in the ex-Mousel brewery. In addition to these, the summer offers a series of festivals which take place almost every week. One of the best is that held on Luxembourg’s national holiday. It starts on 22 June when merrymakers revel in the city centre popping corks of sparkling wine before the Fakelzuch - the evening torchlight procession - followed by a spectacular fireworks display. Celebrations then continue until late into the night. This is just the run up to the official national holiday on 23 June. Around mid-June the Fête de la Musique takes place with a week of free concerts, while mid-July sees the lively Blues‘n’Jazz Rallye that offers two days of festivities, outdoor concerts and pub performances.

FROM MINING TO ART: THE MINETT REGION

The Minett region, in south Luxembourg, has a gritty past linked to the iron industry and now a dynamic present linked to art and music.

Minett: stories of men and steel

The Minett region in the south-west of Luxembourg is known as the ‘land of red rocks’ due to the large deposits of iron ore. Mining, which began around 1840 and grew with the development of European railways, changed and then dominated Luxembourg’s economy until the mid-1970s. Apart from leaving the tangible remnants, such as the blast furnaces at Esch-sur-Alzette and the mines at Rumelange, industrialisation had a huge demographic impact: initially peasants from the north moved southwards, then immigrants from Germany, Italy and, from the 1960s onwards, Portugal made up for the shortfall of workers. Today, almost 50 percent of Luxembourg's population are immigrants. Discover the region through the unique stories of its population.

The rebirth of Esch-sur-Alzette

In recent years, a cultural renaissance has hit this town formerly renowned for its rusting steelworks. Its success has been such, that in 2022, Esch-sur-Alzette was made a European Capital of Culture. A visible expression of this change are the two blast furnaces sited in the Belval industrial district, which after a creative conversion have become pivotal part of a new and interesting urban regeneration project. Admire them while enjoying lunch at Café Saga. Belval is also home to the Rockhal, Luxembourg’s largest live music venue, on the appropriately named Avenue du Rock‘n’Roll, and has a train station styled on a 1960s idea of a what a UFO should look like!

Discover the mines

The old Cockerill Mine, just outside the town, has been largely converted into a museum chronicling the region’s mining past. For a deeper exploration of the mining experience, continue on to the National Mining Museum in Rumelange. Dress warmly because you’ll be entering the mine.

Dudelange

Less than 25 minutes by train from Luxembourg City, the city of Dudelange hosts important music festivals: Jazz Machine (May), Usina (early June) and Fête de la Musique (mid-June). While you’re in town, there are two sites you must visit. The Église Saint-Martin with its twin towers, which may look fairly standard from the outside but inside, it’s breathtaking, with frescoes and stained glass windows above a gilded altar, and the Neischmelz district regeneration project. This area is home to VEWA, a creative space for artists and craftsmen, a brewery, Kantin a modern café and the showy new national audiovisual centre, the CNA with cinemas and exhibition spaces.