A weekly market is held in Vrijdagmarkt square in Ghent, Belgium, every Friday morning from 7:30 am, and up to 30 minutes earlier in summer months.
The Dutch name Vrijdagmarkt translates as ‘Friday Market’ and it is a weekly tradition that started in 1199 in this large square, one of the oldest in Ghent. Stallholders sell a variety of fresh food including fish, meat, bread, fruit, vegetables, local delicacies, and some new goods such as clothing. On Saturdays a market is also held in the square from 11 am at which stallholders sell mostly new merchandise.
Bars, restaurants, and cafes line the perimeter of the square, and there is interesting architecture to see, including the 15th-century Toreken, the oldest building of the Vrijdagmarkt, and two art nouveau buildings of the socialist movement, De Bond Moyson and Ons Huis, dating from the turn of the 20th century. A bronze statue of Flemish political leader Jacob van Artevelde stands at the centre of the Vrijdagmarkt.
