Orchestre International du Vetex

The Orchestre International du Vetex was formed in 2004 in the small Flemish town of Kortrijk for a special occasion : to gather professional and amateur musicians from Flanders, Wallonia and the North of France in order to publicise the possibility of renovation of the old textile factory Vetex situated in an abandoned part of the city. Some local associations took part in the project and a couple of weeks later, the Orchestre International du Vetex gave its first concert at the “Fiesta Mestiza”-festival in Kortrijk.

It’s the beginning of a great adventure. The band is quickly noticed in the musical world in Belgium thanks to this crazy mixture of brassmusic, always with a punky rock'n'roll attitude. It sows energy everywhere it goes, but not only because of the style or the numerous musicians, also because they don't like to be too serious and certainly want to have fun with the spectators. It’s a cross-border band, with people from three different regions in two different countries but that have some important goals in common and that fight for the same ideas. Fascinating? Of course. Easy ? Not always…

In 2005, after a series of concerts in Belgium and France, the Orchestre International du Vetex records its first album, "Le Beau Bazar", a CD and a DVD with 12 songs and a documentary about the life of this cross-border band. Then, they record “Flamoek Fantasy” in 2007. Both albums receive very good critics in Belgium but in other European countries as well.

Till now, the Vetex has played more than 500 concerts… From little clubs and parties to big and famous stages… From the streets of Sarajevo to the underground in Praha. From the Olympic Games in Turin to prestigious street and world music festivals in Graz, Jelenia Gora, Nis, Santander, Amsterdam, Bansko, Berlin…