Everything you need to know about WONDER Festival 2026

The future is being shaped right now — in studios, classrooms and businesses. WONDER, an initiative by Designregio Kortrijk, brings together the people who are shaping it: designers, artists, businesses, students and the public, centred around one key question: how do we want to live, create and coexist?

23 unique venues, ranging from a derelict hospital campus and shops to listed buildings in the centre of Kortrijk, will provide the backdrop for exhibitions and installations in collaboration with more than 300 designers, artists, businesses, organisations and schools.

Based on the independent jury’s selection, the curators defined six overarching themes that link the many projects together: Dine With Us, Design Is Play, Digital Power, Echoes Of The Earth, Unfolding Design and Touch Textile. Particular attention is paid to a new generation of designers, artists and makers who are experimenting with materials, technologies and social issues.

The ‘DINE WITH US’ theme brings together architects, designers and ceramicists in an 18th-century patrician house to explore dining as a ritual of connection, time and collective experience. The project ‘Binnenbos — Buitenkamer’ by 3 architects is a living table in which plants grow, allowing guests to literally dine amidst nature.

DESIGN IS PLAY presents design as an invitation to wonder, experimentation and playfulness. Dutch designer Adrianus Kundert (Inflatable Helicopter) sparks the imagination with a striking, mesmerising fountain. Artist Lindert Steegen brings a surreal, colourful garden full of monumental inflatable sculptures to Texture’s museum square.

On the one hand, DIGITAL POWER is a critical exploration of how digital technology shapes our world. But it also offers a glimpse into how this technology stimulates innovation, entrepreneurship and social progress. This comes to life in the Interactive Experience at the Flanders Technology & Innovation Festival Kortrijk, held on the disused Reepkaai hospital campus.

ECHOES OF THE EARTH presents design and art as living, ongoing processes through bio-based materials, circular systems and regenerative practices. Symbiotic Manufacture by LarbitsSisters takes its cue from living flowerpots, where light, moisture, air circulation, time and care all help to determine the structure of the work.

UNFOLDING DESIGN presents design as an open process. These projects reveal the ideas, decisions and techniques that lie behind the final result and establish a link between design, knowledge and industry. Maximiliaan Schevenhels’ installation *Second Matter*, created for Quick-Step, makes complex and hidden industrial recycling processes visible and tangible.

TOUCH TEXTILE is an ode to the region’s rich textile tradition and its future. With ‘Ascendant’, Charbel Abou Zeidan presents eighteen impressive flags rising up like monuments, the result of a unique collaboration between De Poortere Frères, B&T Textilia, Green Street Fabrics, Ragolle Rugs, Sofa Cover, Bekaert Deslee and the social enterprise AAROVA, supported by Fedustria, Designregio Kortrijk and POM West Flanders.

This is just a selection from the full programme of over 50 exhibitions.

Product Design Meetup – Tuesday 27 October from 13:00 to 17:00 at Depart

Conference for design professionals, with Aloka Muddukrishna, Head of UX/UI at Polestar (ENG), as the first speaker.

The Next Step by Hangar K – Tuesday 27 October from 18:00 Depart

Conference for entrepreneurs, with the first speakers being Gunther Ghysels (Get Driven, WERKR & Tinrate) and Sebastien Vandendriessche (Spotable).

WATF Community Event by Fedustria – Thursday 29 October from 16:00 Budafabriek

Networking event for business leaders from the textile, wood and furniture industries, as well as designers, with the first speakers being Charbel Abou Zeidan, nominee for the BKRK Award 2026 and Knack Weekend Designer of the Year 2026, Arthur Nevejan (Wünder) and Emme Neirynck (SERGE The Label).

CIRCO Class for designers by Flanders District of Creativity – Friday 6 November from 9.00 am, Budafabriek

A workshop day for creative professionals who wish to apply circular design principles in their own practice, business operations, strategy and projects, whether internally or in collaboration with others.

WONDER takes place from Tuesday 27 October to Sunday 8 November; it is closed on Mondays. On school days from 9.00 to 18.00, and at weekends and during the autumn half-term from 10.00 to 18.00. Admission to the festival is free, but there is also a ‘pay what you want’ option.

Main venue: Budafabriek, Dam 2a, Kortrijk; all venues are within walking distance.

WONDER Festival and the Flanders Technology & Innovation Festival Kortrijk are joining forces to present a joint programme for schools. At FTI Kortrijk and the WONDER Festival, pupils and students will follow an interactive discovery trail through the centre of Kortrijk to explore, in an accessible and interactive way, what technology and design make possible today and tomorrow: from AI, health technology, product design and STEM robotics to circular and regenerative design, drones, gaming and more.

WANTED!

We are looking for guides, gallery attendants, reception staff and volunteers for the period 26 October – 8 November! Interested? Please get in touch at info@wonder-festival.be.

Take a look at the website for the full programme. Further information, a press pack and images can be requested from lisa@designregio-kortrijk.be of via 056 51 91 83.

WONDER is organised by Designregio Kortrijk and made possible thanks to our enthusiastic partners:

Key partners: Stad Kortrijk, Nationale Loterij, Flanders Technology & Innovation

Supporting partners: Omer Vander Ghinste, Polestar, Fedustria, POM West-Vlaanderen & Domaine De Graux

Media partners: De Morgen, Humo & Willy

Founding partners: Howest, Kortrijk Xpo, Intercommunale Leiedal, Stad Kortrijk, Voka West-Vlaanderen & Imog