The day itself

The Batuca Drummers opened, and from that point the afternoon had a pulse. Families spread out on the grass. Vendors sold out of things they’d expected to carry home. Conversations started between people who had lived in the same country for a decade without meeting.

Thirty-two stalls is a real market — food, textiles, jewellery, skincare, art, small businesses that mostly exist as an Instagram account and a kitchen table for the rest of the year. For one Sunday, they had a high street.

Eleven countries represented among registrations tells its own story about who this community actually is. Luxembourg’s official statistics don’t count us in a way that makes us visible; the African and Caribbean diaspora here is systematically undercounted because nationality is recorded and heritage is not. A park with 317 people in it, from eleven countries, is a harder thing to overlook.

What we’re taking into 2027

We run a survey after every event and we read all of it, including the parts that sting. A few things we’re changing:

Setup and takedown need dedicated crews. This year the same volunteers who ran the day also broke down the site, and by evening they were exhausted. Next year those are two different teams with two different call times.

The park gets left spotless. It always has been, and it always will be — we recycle every box and we walk the grounds before we leave. This is not a small point. Our ability to use public space in Luxembourg depends on being the organisation the commune wants back.

Performances start at 12:30. Earlier than this year, with a shorter, tighter line-up. Fewer acts, more space around each one. The Batuca Drummers stay — they are not negotiable. We’re adding a dance group.

More young performers. In 2024, half of our BLOCCS performers were under 29. We want to beat that.

Thank you

To the vendors who took a chance on an outdoor market in a Luxembourg July. To Amazon and its Black Employee Network. To ALC, Likaba, One People and Imani House. To the Batuca Drummers. To the twelve volunteers whose names most attendees will never know. And to the 317 of you who showed up.

BLOCCS returns in July 2027 at the Kirchberg Amphitheatre. Applications for vendors and performers will open in early 2027 — sign up to the newsletter at label-konect.com and you’ll hear before anyone else.

We built something. Come help us build it bigger.