Is Ghent Safe in May 2026?

The Gentse Feesten ten-day summer festival fills the city centre with up to one million visitors and is one of the highest-risk periods for pickpocketing in Belgium. Thieves work in groups in the densely packed outdoor concert areas, beer tents, and the crowded streets of the Patershol and Vrijdagmarkt zones.

How to avoid: Use a money belt or secure inner pocket for your phone and wallet. Carry only the cash you need for the evening and leave cards and passports at your accommodation. Stay alert to anyone pressing unusually close in crowd surges near stages.

Restaurants with outdoor terraces on the Korenmarkt waterfront charge significantly above local rates and sometimes add undisclosed service charges, bread fees, or terrace supplements. The views of the three towers make this the highest-footfall tourist dining spot in Ghent.

How to avoid: Look at the menu displayed outside before sitting down and confirm whether any supplements apply. Walk one or two streets back from the Korenmarkt waterfront into the Patershol neighbourhood to find restaurants with more honest pricing.

In the months before the Gentse Feesten festival, fraudulent apartment listings appear on secondary rental platforms and Facebook groups targeting international tourists who struggle to find legitimate accommodation. Deposits are taken by bank transfer and hosts become unreachable before arrival.

How to avoid: Book accommodation well in advance through Booking.com, Airbnb, or directly with hotels. Never transfer a deposit outside a secure booking platform. Contact your accommodation by phone to confirm the booking in the weeks before arrival.

The pedestrian shopping streets between Sint-Niklaaskerk and the Korenmarkt are among the busiest in Ghent and a known area for distraction-based theft. Teams of two or three individuals stage minor incidents — a dropped item, a spilled drink, or a question about directions — while an accomplice accesses the victim's bag or pocket.

How to avoid: Be alert to anyone creating an unexpected distraction near you in busy shopping streets. Keep your bag zipped and in front of your body. Do not engage with staged incidents if you notice that bystanders are also closing in around you.

In the weeks before the Gentse Feesten ten-day summer festival, fraudulent websites and social media sellers offer tickets to ticketed evening concerts and headline events at face value or above, collecting payment and delivering either fake tickets or no tickets at all. Because many events sell out quickly, the demand creates a viable scam window. The official festival website lists all ticketed events and authorized vendors.

How to avoid: Purchase tickets only from the official Gentse Feesten website or through Visit Gent's official channels. Do not buy festival tickets from Facebook Marketplace, Instagram sellers, or third-party resale sites. If a ticket is offered below face value days before the event, treat it as a likely fraud.