WHAT'S ON
Full List
in partnership with The Brussels Times
Social | Wed 29th Oct | 7.30-10.30pm
Put your general knowledge to the test at our Pub Quiz night with The Brussels Times! Come with a team or join one when you arrive – we’ll match you up.
Join us for fun night of trivia, drinks & good company. Bring your knowledge & let’s quiz!
Maximum table size - 5.
Come alone and make a table with others or with friends. No more than 5 people per table.
Open to all | Bar open with drinks & snacks
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ADDITIONAL INFO
ACCESS
Bar & snacks
MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 30th Oct I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 6th Nov I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
Culture | Thurs 6th Nov | 7:00-8:30 pm
Monthly meet up to discuss a great read, along with drinks & good company.
*Doors open at 6.30pm. The book club begins at 7pm.
In the first part of Solvej Balle’s epic septology, Tara Selter has slipped out of time. Every morning, she wakes up to the 18th of November. She no longer expects to wake up to the 19th of November, and she no longer remembers the 17th of November as if it were yesterday. She comes to know the shape of the day like the back of her hand – the grey morning light in her Paris hotel; the moment a blackbird breaks into song; her husband’s surprise at seeing her return home unannounced. But for everyone around her, this day is lived for the first and only time. As Tara approaches her 365th 18th of November, she can’t shake the feeling that somewhere underneath the surface of this day, there’s a way to escape.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Solvej Balle is a Danish author and publisher. She made her debut in 1986 with Lyrebird and went on to write one of the 1990s’ most acclaimed works of Danish literature, According to the Law: Four Accounts of Mankind. Following this, she disappeared from the spotlight, moving from Copenhagen to the small island of Ærø, where she founded her publishing house, Pelagraf. Nearly 30 years later, the first book of a planned septology, On the Calculation of Volume I, was self-published. Five books have been published in Danish so far, with translations underway, and it was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025.
DEMOCRACY Training Our Democratic Fitness with Elze Vermaas & Maria Koomen
DEMOCRACY
Training Our Democratic Fitness
with Elze Vermaas & Maria Koomen
Ideas / Conversations | Sat 8th Nov | 2-4:30 pm
*Act On sessions offer quarterly action-oriented get-togethers on a specific issue, between experts and an audience willing to DO something about it.*
A lot is going on around the world that shows just what democracy can degenerate into when used undemocratically: tyranny, fascism, oligarchy, etc. Is it all inevitable or are we, the demos, forgetting something?
With backgrounds in science, socio-ecological engagement, policy and tech, our hosts Elze Vermaas and Maria Koomen have been reflecting deeply on how to inject a citizen reset into the workings of democracy. Are we fit enough to listen, engage, disagree, make wise collective decisions? Are we well informed? Can we hold our representatives accountable? In our busy, distractible times it's on us to train our democratic fitness.
If you're under the impression that you can't achieve much, persuade a soul or make any difference, join this session and reclaim your citizen power. Together we'll proactively flex our democratic muscles.
What we will do:
2-2:30 pm: Welcome, introduction and setting the tone 2.30-3 pm: Presentations by the hosts on online ecosystems & on democratic abundance and accessibility 3-4 pm: Two smaller groups are deep at work to reflect on personal and collective experiences, expand perspectives and ground us in action with conviction 4-4.30 pm: We come together with actions to take on. We leave the space with concrete actions at hand and a group of people to come back to
* Library & Media resources to come
** Lunch option available before the session
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Elze Vermaas is staff member at the Belgian socio-ecological think tank Oikos and former vice-chair of the Dutch young Green think tank Jong Wetenschappelijk Bureau GroenLinks. In her exploration and dissemination of new ecological narratives, no voices are left unheard. She is among the authors of Enough, Thriving societies beyond growth (2023), together with Dirk Holemans and Lara Ferrante. She's currently researching more in depth on the connections between economic systems and democracy.
Maria Koomen is governance director at the Centre for Future Generations, working on the challenges at the intersection of emerging technologies, democracy, and governance. Her work focuses on ensuring that governance systems evolve to keep pace with technological and societal change.
SWITCH-OFF CAFE & BAR
CAFE-BAR I Sat 8th Nov I 2pm-7pm
Leave your devices at the door. **OPEN TO ALL**
Find out more about pur monthly Switch-off Cafe. The Full Circle bar & cafe is open with a whole menu of hot & cold drinks, light snacks, and on some occasions, food is available. No need to book, just drop by.
CAFE & BAR OPEN
CAFE-BAR I Sat 8th Nov I 2pm-7pm **OPEN TO ALL**
The Full Circle bar & cafe is open with a whole menu of hot & cold drinks, light snacks, and on some occasions, food is available. No need to book, just drop by.
Voice & Connection Session Gudrun Roos
Wellbeing | Sat 8th Nov | 3pm & 4pm
45 minute session Open to Everyone
During our Switch-Off cafe, why not get into the groove with a voice-connection session?
Let go of the belief that you can’t sing or that your voice isn’t good enough - singing is a natural way to express yourself and connect with others.
Gudrun Roos, singer, musician, and vocal coach, will guide you through a 45-minute session of pure melodic relaxation. Join us for a unique singing circle where we focus on feeling the vibrations of our voices, not on perfection or technique. Together, we’ll explore rhythms, melodies, and sounds, allowing everyone’s unique voice to shine without judgment.
What better way to rejuvenate yourself - and completely disconnect from your screens - than through the grounding experience of group singing?
No performance. No prerequisites. Come as you are - no musical experience or knowledge is needed!
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Not a Member yet? Join Full Circle now & come to events at the Members' rate!
ABOUT THE HOST
Gudrun Roos
Other things to stay for on this day!
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FOOD & DRINK
Will women be the saucy French maids of technofascism?
Andreea Petre-Gonçalves
Ideas / Conversations | Sat 8th Nov | 5-7pm
Even as we look down the barrel of the gun that is fascism enabled by technology, it’s still awkward to talk about the things that communism got right. Apart from pulling whole generations from the indignity of subsistence and ensuring unparalleled social provision, one thing that communism also did was deliver feminism - from above.
From comrades
While that might sound distasteful, and it sure as hell was a long way from perfect, it did mean that growing up behind the Iron Curtain in the 80s, there was never a reason to suspect inequality between men and women. Everyone was a comrade. Women pursued science careers and had access to leadership that might have delighted their Western counterparts. To this day Eastern Europe has notably higher proportions of women doctors, scientists, and tech specialists than do countries that have enjoyed the more lauded freedoms of capitalism.
This is the point at which apologies and caveats are expected, and clear professions of faith that communism was also bad. Comparisons between then and now are however useful, as we take fast strides towards a new period of authoritarianism in human history, a fascist takeover of the architecture of the state solidified by the almighty tech-enabled distortion machine of social media and AI.
To French maids
Far-right autocracy has women back in the kitchen as trad wives, pushing out babies without paracetamol. Technology enshittifies our existence by proliferating misogyny on social media and through biased large language models that reshape social reality. Whole new generations of boys are steeped in dehumanising sexual norms driven by increasingly degrading and ubiquitous pornography. Before long, the cultural and social gains of the last few decades will seem like a woke hallucination.
The iconography of technofascism will have us in aprons and suspenders, in service to the bros, the pater familias, the mighty boss man. In the second brush with European autocracy of our lifetimes, we will not be comrades, but objects in service to strongmen, saucy French maids in all seriousness, without the nudge and without the wink.
Things don’t have to be so. Join us for a steadfast conversation.
Andreea Petre-Goncalves was 8 years old when totalitarian Communism collapsed overnight in her native Romania. She saw then how quickly yesterday’s absolute truth can become tomorrow reviled atrocity. She knows that societal narratives can shift fast, and when they do, they make deep system re-set possible. For two decades she worked for international development, human rights, health and sustainability in the EU institutions and international NGOs. In 2019 she set up Flare, a Brussels-based think-and-do tank that experiments with practical ways of shifting the collective ideas we hold of what is normal and desirable. This work builds on 15 years of her researching and writing about societal narrative shifts. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader and a member of Global Diplomacy Lab.
Voice & Connection: A Singing Circle for All
with singer & vocal coach Gudrun Roos from “Zing je zen”
Wellbeing / Wed 12th Nov / 7.15-8.45pm
*This event will only go ahead if there are 15 people registered.
Join us for a unique singing circle where we focus on feeling the vibrations of our voices, not on perfection or technique.
Together, we’ll explore rhythms, melodies, and sounds, allowing everyone’s unique voice to shine without judgment. Whether we’re drawing inspiration from shamanic chants, mantras, or spontaneous melodies, this is a space for deep connection and relaxation.
Singing in a group is a powerful, energizing experience that will leave you feeling rejuvenated and free.
Come as you are - no musical experience or knowledge is needed!
ACCES
Bar & snacks & light food
Website: www.zingjezen.be
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zingjezen/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zingjezen
MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 13th Nov I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
Ideas / Salon | Fri 14th Nov | 6.30-8.30 pm
*Doors open at 6.30pm. The speaker will start at 7pm.
How do the Earth's killers think? What makes their crimes so deadly? And how can we stop them from stealing our future? Psychologist Julia Shaw is a master at looking at the why human beings do the (evil) things they do. From oil spills to illegal deforestation, she exposes the disturbing underbelly of environmental crime whilst also shining a light on the heroes attempting to thwart its progress.
Using insider sources and her expertise as a criminal psychologist, Julia Shaw takes us deep into some of the worst environmental crimes of our time (think Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Dieselgate emissions scandal, or the Shuidong wildlife crime syndicate).
She reconstructs the minds of the perpetrators and, from the Amazon forest to South African gold mines, she follows the impact of green crimes right to our doorsteps, and meticulously profiles the work of the heroes bringing these criminals to justice.
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Julia Shaw is a German-Canadian criminal psychologist at University College London, bestselling author, and regular presenter of TV and audio shows. As a scientist, she specialises in false memory, memory hacking, investigative interviewing, and understanding the criminal mind, as well as identity in the age of social media and digital ethics. She is also a best-selling writer translated into twenty languages, author of four books. She strives to to form more tolerant, respectful and inclusive working places and environments. In 2017 Julia co-founded the startup Spot which uses artificial intelligence and memory science to help individuals document and report inappropriate workplace behaviour. In 2024 she released two series on BBC Radio 4. Experts on Trial, about the secret world of expert witnesses, and The Human Subject, co-hosted by Dr Adam Rutherford, about the dark history of modern medicine. Between 2020 and 2024 she wrote and hosted the award-winning BBC Sounds podcast Bad People.She has also been a presenter for German television.
GOOD READS
Green Crime, Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them (2025); Bi, The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality (2022); Making Evil, The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side (2020); The Memory Illusion, Remembering, Forgetting and the Science of False Memory (2016).
KEY LINKS
Julia Shaw
DINNER DINING I Fri 14 Nov I 7-9.30pm Book your dinner before/after the event ** OPEN TO ALL**
The menu will be published here, several the days before the dining date.
Breath: The Missing Pillar of Health Yasmin Nguyen
Breath: The Missing Pillar of Health
Yasmin Nguyen
Wellbeing / Sat 15th Nov / 3-5pm
Many of diligently optimise diet, fitness and sleep in the pursuit of health, yet one fundamental pillar remains largely overlooked: the breath. From yogic traditions to modern neuroscience, breathing is emerging as the hidden key to regulating stress, enhancing focus, and deepening presence.
Wavekind is on a mission to bring breathing into the heart of modern wellbeing. In this 2-hour immersive workshop, Yasmin Nguyen, the founder of Wavekind and Oxford University graduate, will guide you through:
The science and tradition: how breathing links to emotion, memory, the autonomic nervous system, and physical health.
Experiential practice: a signature Wavekind Breathwork Journey, led by Yasmin, where participants will be guided into expanded states of awareness, tapping into clarity, compassion, and inner spaciousness.
Integration and reflection: sharing, self-inquiry, and practical techniques you can use immediately in daily life
Participants often describe these experiences as some of the most powerful they have had — shifting internal states in minutes, and opening portals to insight and deeper emotional resonance.
Open to everyone | Booking required | Bring your own mat
Bar open with snacks
Theme & guest to be announced
Sandra Melone
Conversations | Sat 15th Nov | 5-7pm
Join us for a critical conversation on conflict and peace with our experience host, Sandra Melone. Open to everyone | Booking required
Bar open
Hosting the Series is Sandra Djuvara Melone, CEO of Zancora Consulting, which she founded in 2021, with a strong expertise in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, crisis management, human rights and, not last, gender. With a vast experience on the ground, she has worked across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She knows first hand what living through civil war is like. Sandra is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground, Europe, one of the world’s leading international non-governmental organisations working in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, where she's been involved in various roles since 1995. Sandra is a founding member of the European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation (EPCPT), of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), and of the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI). Before dedicating her career to conflict transformation, Sandra worked in human rights advocacy with Amnesty International, and in international education.
SINGLES APERO
Social | Sat 15th Nov | 7-9pm
The Singles Apero is our popular series of monthly encounters where you can meet other social singles in a safe space without matching pressure. Feel free to bring any single friends along or just come by yourself.
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MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 20th Nov I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
A.C. GRAYLING
Salon / Ideas | Fri 20th Nov | 6.30-8.30pm
The ‘war on wokeness’ may feel like a new phenomenon, but in fact, it’s been around for centuries. People have been ‘cancelled’, in one way or another, since the beginning of time – it’s human nature to form tribes, create an Us vs Them, and serve as judge, jury and so on. And yet, it feels like today we can’t talk about anything. How did we end up here?
Nuanced and historically grounded, philosopher Anthony Grayling searches for middle ground in an otherwise incendiary debate. Looking at the history of cancellation, from Ancient Greek ostracism through hemlock cups, witch trials and the House of Un-American Activities, his is a timely examination of the state of our public culture and the chilling effect it's having on intellectual discourse.
A.C. Grayling is an outstanding British philosopher and public intellectual, as well as a prolific author (over 30 books) and frequent writer, columnist, broadcaster and commentator on all of the main national media in the United Kingdom. He contributes to the ongoing reflection on how we should live and about possibilities for good lives in good societies. In 2011 he founded and became the first Master of New College of the Humanities, an independent undergraduate college in London. He was previously Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he taught from 1991. He is also a supernumerary fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He has been a judge on the Booker Prize twice, in 2015 serving as the Chair of the judging panel. He is a Vice President of the British Humanist Association, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Discriminations, Making peace in the culture wars (2025); Who owns the moon, In defence of humanity's common interests in Space (2024); Philosophy and Life, Exploring the great questions of how to live (2023); For the Good of the World, Why our planet's crises need global agreement now (2022); The Frontiers of Knowledge: What We Know about Science, History and the Mind (2021); The Good State, On the Principles of Democracy (2020); Democracy and Its Crises (2017); War: An Enquiry (Vices and Virtues) (2017); The Challenge of Things: Thinking through troubled times (2015); Ideas That Matter: The Concepts That Shape the 21st Century (2010); Liberty In The Age Of Terror (2009); The Mystery Of Things (2004); Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age (2002); and more...
DINNER DINING I Thurs 20 Nov I 7-9.30pm Book your dinner before/after the event ** OPEN TO ALL**
with Sarah Stein Lubrano & Max Haiven
Ideas / Conversations | Fri 21st Nov | 7-8.30 pm
The far right and fascists are on the rise around the world. Why are people attracted to these groups and ideas, and what can we do about it?
In this short interactive presentation and discussion, social theorists Max Haiven and Sarah Stein Lubrano will examine what motivations attract people to far right ideas, what can (and crucially, can’t!) move people away from these positions, and how those who care about fighting back against the rise of the far right should focus their efforts. A mix of social science, psychology, and activist practice will inform thinking on all three.
Max and Sarah will first discuss three key motivations of those attracted to far right and fascist ideas. Then, together, we’ll consider the role of paranoia, opportunism and an attraction to power, or “psychedelic thinking”. Then we’ll examine some potentially surprising things that don’t work, from voting to debating to sympathising with the far right. Finally, we’ll consider which people can really be moved, with words, relationships, and actions.
Dr Sarah Stein Lubrano has a background in feminist, mutual aid, and other local organising as well as teaching in prisons. She holds a PhD from the University of Oxford and a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. Her thinking often reaches the public through the Sense and Solidarity Initiative and the Future Narratives Lab. She was previously the Head of Content at The School of Life. Her first book is, Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds is out now with Bloomsbury. She regularly appears on public radio and a variety of podcasts.
Max Haiven has been organizing grassroots movements since he was 12 in anti-capitalist and anti-colonial initiatives. Today works as the Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination at Lakehead University and directs RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, a platform to bring together social movements and radical ideas. He is the author or editor of 9 books which all focus on the relationship between capitalism and the imagination. Along with Alex Khasnabish, he is the author of The Radical Imagination: Social Movement Research in the Age of Austerity (2014) and is currently working on a book titled The Player and the Played: How Financialization Fosters Fascism
Wake Up Europe: Watching the Slide
Women Against Fascism (WAF)
Conversations / Fri 21st Nov / 7 pm
Open to everyone | Booking required Bar open
Our democracies - all around the world - are under threat from many sides. We are witnessing the de-legitimising of democratic processes, dismantling of institutions, active policies and practices that are counter democratic.
These conversations set out expose the democratic slide towards authoritarianism, bringing together experiences and testimonies from around the world, to engage with decision makers, activists, concerned citizens.
Wellbeing / Fri 21th Nov / 7-8.30pm
PIANO TRIOS
Brussels Muzieque
Music / Sun 21st Nov / 7.30pmDoors open 7pm
*Dinner available after the concert, please book in advance
Brussels Muzieque continues its season on November 21st at Full Circle Theater with a programme of piano trios performed by Meruert Karmenova (violin), Eduardo Tonietto (cello), and Nadia Weintraub (piano).
The evening opens with Haydn’s Piano Trio in G major, Hob. XV:25, the famous “Gypsy” trio, whose fiery Hungarian-style finale remains one of the composer’s most popular chamber works. The programme also features Edvard Grieg’s Piano Trio, EG 116, an early work left unpublished during the composer’s lifetime and only discovered in 1978, offering a fascinating glimpse into his youthful voice. Closing the concert, Brahms’s Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 presents music of intensity and compact power, reflecting the composer’s mature style.
Together, these three works span from classical elegance to Romantic passion, offering a rich journey through the piano trio repertoire.
MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 27th Nov I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
You already know us, you know what we do, and that by coming YOU make this a great event!
Get your pass for the entire weekend today!
MEMBERS Bar BAR I Thurs 4th Dec I From 6pm For Members & guests. Not a member? Request an invitation
CAFE-BAR I Sat 6th Dec I 2pm-7pm **OPEN TO ALL**
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
Culture | Thurs 11th Dec | 7:00-8:30 pm
'Why aren't all novels like this?' - THE CRITIC
What's left when the kids grow up and leave home? When Tom Layward's wife had an affair he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest daughter turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while taking her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact, and keeps driving West. An unforgettable road trip novel, The Rest of Our Lives beautifully explores the nuance and complications of a long term marriage. A mix of funny, poignant and thought-provoking.
Ben Markovits is a British-American author and grew up in Texas, London and Berlin. He left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study the Romantics and write novels. He has taught high school English, worked at a left-wing cultural magazine, and written essays, stories and reviews for The New York Times, Esquire, Granta, The Guardian, The London Review of Books and The Paris Review and others. He has published several novels meanwhile winning prizes and accolades such as the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction, a Pushcart Prize for short story. He lives in London and teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Wellbeing / Thurs 18th Nov / 7-8.30pm
We only have 120 tickets and we always sell out!!
It's time to dust off your dancing shoes and join a traditional Scottish ceilidh.
No previous experience or dancing skills required - the band will be calling out the steps as we go along. If you're a ceilidh regular then you know how much fun it is!
Bring your friends or come along but please, no spikey heels on our rather beautiful wooden floor.
*7.30pm - Doors open
*8.00pm - Start dancing!
*10.30pm - Band finishes
*Ticket includes 1 drink (beer, wine or soft)
*Book your dinner by clicking the image below:
Bar & light food
The Hoggies are the original Brussels-based Scottish ceilidh band.
FULL CIRCLE HOUSE
89 Ch. de Vleurgat, Brussels 1050, Belgium +32 (0)2 644 3777 I info [ AT ] fullcircle.eu
BOOK A VISIT
OPENING MON-WED & FRI 9AM-5.30PM THURS 9AM-9PMSAT 2PM-7PM (or 9PM) SUNDAY & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS - CLOSED
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