Sunday Morning at the Vogelenmarkt
It is just past eight on the first Sunday of November, and the Oudevaartplaats is already loud. Cages clatter, pigeons shift and murmur in their boxes, and vendors call out prices across the heads of the crowd. This is the Vogelenmarkt, Antwerp's Sunday bird and small-animal market, running 08:00–13:00 (until 14:00 in summer) and free to walk through. It sits around the Oudevaartplaats and Theaterplein area, and on All Saints' Day — 1 November 2026 — a Sunday, so the market falls on the day itself. Come early, walk the stalls slowly, and let the market set the rhythm for the rest of your day.
From there, the city's weekend markets stack up neatly. On Saturdays, the Antique Market on Lijnwaadmarkt and the Exotic Market on Theaterplein both run with free entry. On Sundays, alongside the Vogelenmarkt, a second Antique Market fills Sint-Jansvliet, also free. Bring cash, wear shoes you don't mind scuffing, and plan to browse rather than rush.
An Evening at the AFAS Dome
All Saints' Day in Antwerp is not only a church-and-candlelight affair. On the evening of 1 November 2026, Placebo play the AFAS Dome at 20:00, with tickets at €150. If you're in town for the holiday weekend and want a night that runs loud rather than quiet, this is the fixed point on the calendar. The AFAS Dome is the city's large-scale concert hall, and doors-and-crowd logistics are worth checking ahead rather than improvising on the night.
If your trip stretches into the following week, the Antwerp Jazz Festival runs 5–15 November 2026 across various venues, including De Roma and AMUZ, with tickets from €20. Korn also play the AFAS Dome on 9 November 2026. None of these are All Saints' Day events as such, but they give the first fortnight of November a shape — a concert on the holiday itself, then a jazz festival unfolding across the city in the days after.
What the City Does, and What It Doesn't
Antwerp's official events calendar lists no All Saints' Day–specific market, parade, concert or fireworks programme. What you get instead is the city's regular weekend machinery, running as it always does, plus whatever concerts happen to fall on the date. That is worth knowing before you book: come for the markets, the music and the autumn city, not for a single organised All Saints' spectacle.
- Saturday markets: Antique Market, Lijnwaadmarkt (free entry); Exotic Market, Theaterplein (free entry).
- Sunday markets: Vogelenmarkt, Oudevaartplaats/Theaterplein area, 08:00–13:00 (14:00 in summer), free entry; Antique Market, Sint-Jansvliet, free entry.
- On 1 November 2026 itself: Placebo at the AFAS Dome, 20:00, tickets €150.
- The week after: Antwerp Jazz Festival, 5–15 November 2026, various venues including De Roma and AMUZ, from €20.
Autumn in the City, and the Season Ahead
Early November sits in a useful pocket of Antwerp's calendar. The Antwerp International Film Festival runs 10–18 October 2026, so if you can arrive a couple of weeks before All Saints' Day you catch the tail of the festival season before the holiday weekend. Later, Winter in Antwerpen — the city's Christmas market — opens 4 December 2026 and runs to 3 January 2027, with free entry and paid ice skating and a Ferris wheel. Between the two, the first days of November are the quiet, grey, market-and-concert stretch: fewer crowds than December, and the city going about its Sunday business.
Make the Holiday Weekend Your Own
Build the trip around the Sunday. Land on Saturday, spend the morning at the Lijnwaadmarkt antique stalls and the Theaterplein exotic market, eat your way through the stalls rather than sitting down, and keep the evening free. On Sunday, be at the Oudevaartplaats by eight for the Vogelenmarkt, drift to Sint-Jansvliet for the second antique market, and rest in the afternoon. Book the Placebo show for the evening of 1 November if you want the day to end with a crowd and a stage. Check the AFAS Dome and Antwerp Jazz Festival listings for times and tickets as your dates firm up, and let the markets do the rest.