Aalst is a city and municipality in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located on the Dender River, about 31 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Brussels. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade, Meldert, Moorsel and Nieuwerkerken; it is the tenth largest city by population with 90.068 inhabitants. Aalst is crossed by the Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek in Aalst and Hofstade. The current mayor of Aalst is Christoph D'Haese, from the New-Flemish Alliance party. The town has a long-standing folkloric feud with Dendermonde, north along the same river, which dates from the Middle Ages.
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Division following relegation in 1997. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29,042-seat Jan Breydel Stadium, which they share with fierce rivals Club Brugge. Cercle Brugge won their first national title in 1911, and won two more titles before the Second World War. The side also won the Belgian Cup in 1927 and in 1985, and have represented Belgium in European tournaments on several occasions.
SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. The club currently play in Belgian Division 2 where they are the defending champions in their region.
Peter Van der Heyden is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
The Arrondissement of Aalst is one of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It forms the Judicial Arrondissement of Dendermonde together with the Arrondissements of Dendermonde and Sint-Niklaas.
The Arrondissement of Dendermonde is one of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Dendermonde also comprises the municipalities of the Arrondissements of Aalst and Sint-Niklaas.
Dirk Martens was a printer and editor in the County of Flanders. He published over fifty books by Erasmus and the very first edition of Thomas More's Utopia. He was the first to print Greek and Hebrew characters in the Netherlands. In 1856 a statue of Martens was erected on the main square of the town of his birth, Aalst.
Steve Colpaert is a Belgian former international footballer who played professionally as a defender. He has played for Eendracht Aalst since 2020.
Volley Lindemans Aalst is a volleyball club based in Aalst, Belgium.
Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people.
The 2012–13 season of the Belgian Second Division began on 22 August 2012 and ended in April 2013. The season was won by Oostende, who were thus promoted to the Belgian Pro League. Mouscron-Péruwelz, Westerlo and WS Woluwe played the second division final round but lost this to Cercle Brugge, resulting in no other team gaining promotion. At the bottom end of the table, Sint-Niklaas and Oudenaarde were relegated, while Heist were saved due to the bankruptcy of Beerschot AC.
The 2013–14 season of the Belgian Second Division began on 2 August 2013 and ended on 27 April 2014.
Laurent Depoitre is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has made one senior appearance for the Belgium national team.
The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Second Division began on 1 August 2014 and ended on 26 April 2015.
The Capture of Aalst of 1584, also known as the Betrayal of Aalst, took place in early February, 1584, at Aalst, County of Aalst, Flanders, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). In 1584, after the successful Spanish military campaign of 1583, the Governor-General Don Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, was focused in subjecting by hunger the cities located on the Scheldt and its tributaries. One of these cities was Aalst, located on the Dender river. In January, the garrison of Aalst, composed of English troops under the command of Governor Olivier van den Tympel, was surrounded and blocked by the Spanish forces led by Parma. In this situation, the English soldiers, tired of the lack of supplies and pay, finally surrendered the city to Parma, in exchange for 128,250 florins and entered the service of the Spanish army.
The Carnival of Aalst is an annual three-day event in Aalst, East Flanders, Belgium. The carnival is celebrated in the days preceding Ash Wednesday. It is mainly a street happening; the celebrants dance on the town squares and visit café after café.
Zvonimir Mikulić is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eendracht Aalst.
Boyd Kjeld van der Vuurst de Vries is a Dutch professional basketball player, who currently plays for Landstede Hammers of the BNXT League.
Anaëlle Wiard is a Belgian football, futsal and beach soccer player, who has made 16 appearances for the Belgium women's national football team. At club level, she most recently played football for Fémina White Star Woluwe and beach soccer for Playas San Javier.
