Editing Hasselt (section)

=== Hasseltse Jenever (Hasselt gin) ===
[[File:Jenever Fryns Smeets Hasselt 2022.jpg|thumb|United Hasselt Distillers distills the famous brands ''Fryns'' and ''Smeets'' of Hasselt jenevers or gins]]
Hasselt is famous for its gin, locally known as [[Jenever]]. Even though the spirit is produced across the entire country of Belgium, Hasselt Jenever became famous when the city escaped the 1601 ban on the sale and production of the beverage imposed by [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria]] and [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]], both Archduke and Archduchess of the [[Spanish Netherlands|Habsburg Netherlands]], because it belonged to the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]]. Dutch troops stationed in the city from 1675 to 1681 ensured that Hasselt Jenever, more than any other Belgian jenever, carried aromas of herbs and berries.
[[File:Graanstokerij-Smeets-in-Hasselt 2023 INDUS F10694-018.jpg|thumb|The former Smeets gin distillery built in 1947, still standing at Raamstraat 17.]]
At the end of the 19th century, dire living conditions among the working population and cheap Jenever prepared from sugar beet molasses led to the annual consumption of 9.5 litres of Jenever (50% vol) per inhabitant of Belgium. Jenever production was the most important industry in Limburg in the 19th century with most distilleries being located in Hasselt. However, increase in excise duty, competition from cheap industrial alcohol, the confiscation of copper stills by the Germans during World War I, and the Vandervelde law against alcohol abuse caused most distilleries in Hasselt to disappear or to be taken over by larger competitors.

By the early 21st century, Hasselt only housed two distilleries (known as 'stokerij' in Dutch): the National Jenever Museum<ref name=":1" /> and Stokerij Wissels, which was later bought by the larger Stokerij Fryns, based in [[Ghent]], which resumed Jenever production on the former Wissels grounds under the Fryns name. Today, three Jenever distilleries operate in Hasselt: the National Jenever Museum, Stokerij Fryns, and Stokerij Vanderlinden, founded in 2017.<ref>[https://www.visitlimburg.be/en/breweries-and-distilleries Breweries and distilleries] Visit Limburg, accessed 15.01.2024</ref><ref>[https://www.fryns.com/over-ons/ Familiebedrijf sinds 1887] Fryns, accessed 15.01.2024</ref> 
[[File:Borrelmanneke Hasselt.jpg|thumb|Het Borrelmanneke, symbolising the Hasselt gin culture and history]]

==== Hasselt Jenever Festival====
Every year during the third weekend of October, the two-day Hasselt Jenever Festival takes place. It includes, among other elements, musical, dance, and [[street theatre]] performances, the ''Borrelmanneke'' fountain on Maastricherstraat being transformed from a water fountain into a Jenever fountain for the day and a [[Waiters' Race]] through the city center.<ref>[https://www.visithasselt.be/nl/jeneverfeesten Jeneverfesten] Visit Hasselt, accessed 15.01.2014</ref>