Camporee 2025: Viking scouting in Merkenveld

This past weekend, Expat Scouts and Scouters from across Belgium gathered at Merkenveld for our 2025 Camporee—and what an incredible weekend it was – this time with the theme of VIKINGS!

We were blessed with fantastic weather throughout the event, with clear skies and sunshine providing the perfect backdrop for a full program of Scouting activities. The site at Merkenveld received high praise, offering a beautiful setting, excellent facilities, and convenient access for all attendees.

Our activity lineup—including cooking, pioneering, and orienteering—ran smoothly and kept everyone fully engaged. It was wonderful to see Scouts from various member organizations, such as 1st Brussels (British), Scouting America (325G), Danish Scouts of Brussels, Hungarian Scouts Association in Exteris, Finnish Scouts - Tuulihaukat, Swedish Scouts in Brussels, Polish, Italian, Spanish Catholic Scouts - Saint-Benoit, Czech, Slovak Scouts - BRUSK, 1st SHAPE Sea Scouts (British), and Sonian Explorers (British), working together, learning new skills, and, most importantly, having fun. 

One of the weekend’s highlights was witnessing youth from different countries connect, collaborate, and build lasting friendships.​  A special thank you to Flemish (FOS) Open Scouting for their continued support in our annual Camporee, helping to bring together youth from so many national backgrounds here in Belgium!

And of course, the campfire didn’t disappoint! Songs, skits, and shared laughter made for a truly memorable night under the stars.

We’d love to hear from those of you who attended—what worked well, what could be improved, and what you’d like to see next time. Please take a moment to fill out our quick Camporee Feedback Survey. (https://forms.office.com/e/n9B0b7UZZu)

Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, and helped make this event a success. We can’t wait to welcome you back for our next Camporee, happening 25–26 April 2026. Mark your calendars!

Launch of our 2025 Camporee!

Expat Scouting in Belgium is organising its 2025 Camporee in Merkenveld on 5-6 April 2025. This beautiful youth centre in West Flanders includes 20 hectares of play forest, 10 hectares of camping meadow and is surrounded by 70 hectares of nature.The site lies in a quiet and wooded area, has a cozy courtyard, and an adventure pond.

We can reveal now that this year the theme of the Camporee will be Vikings! The Camporee sub-commission, spearheaded by British Scouting Overseas, are planning lots of fun activities linked to this theme so be prepared! There will also be a competition beforehand – ask your group leader for more information about that.

The official camporee will start Saturday at noon and end Sunday at lunchtime but the camp site is booked from Friday to Sunday, so it is possible to arrive already Friday, e.g., to drop off equipment and food or just to enjoy the site since some of the organisers will be present from Friday, and fridges and outside kitchens are available. 

The Merkenveld site is within walking distance from the station of Zedelgem, which can be reached by train from Bruges, see https://www.ns.nl/reisplanner/ . It is also not far from the E40 for those who need to bring equipment. Each group will organize its own travel (i.e. booking of the train).

For more information check out https://www.hopper.be/en/jeugdverblijf/merkenveld, contact your group leader for registration and more details, and watch this space!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible for a fun weekend together!

Yours in scouting,

Joe Monk and Koen Schamp, on behalf of the organisers.