Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever presented his favorite classics live on Radio Minerva.
Artwork © Radio Minerva
ANTWERP, Belgium — To celebrate Radio Minerva’s 35th anniversary, the oldies-formatted station invited 12 guest-presenters into its studios for a special broadcast.
On Sunday, July 16, the station showcased its 35 years with 12 hours of live broadcast from its headquarters on the River Scheldt’s left bank, offering a magnificent view on the city of Antwerp.
Pastor Rudi Mannaerts (left) and Radio Minerva producer Wilfried Vriens talk to the press during the station’s special broadcast.
Artwork © Radio Minerva
Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., each of the 12 temporary celebrity hosts presented one hour of live radio, with self-picked tracks fitting the station’s predominantly “senior” audience.
The first guest to go on air was priest Rudi Mannaerts, pastor of the St. Andries parish in the old city center. The priest is quite popular for his sermons in the Antwerp dialect.
The cast of festive Radio Minerva presenters further included actors such as Lucas Van den Eynde and Jelle Cleymans, public service broadcaster VRT radio host Guy de Pré (radio) and VRT TV host Kobe Ilsen, as well as the CEO of Antwerp Port, Jacques Vandermeiren.
VRT TV presenter Kobe Ilsen at work in the Radio Minerva on-air studio.
Artwork © Radio Minerva
In addition, Bart De Wever, Antwerp city mayor, presented one-hour of specially-selected tracks between 9 and 10 a.m., with a playlist including David Bowie, Rick Astley and Gilbert Bécaud.
Radio Minerva was founded in September 1982 and offers an alternative to the “pop” radio scene here. The station began broadcasting from a reefer-container and 10 years ago moved to a chalet, which today houses its on-air and production studios on the left bank of the city.
The station targets an older audience and claims to reach some 60,000 listeners daily.
