Lambic Award

The Lambic Award is a distinction awarded by HORAL to persons who have made a particularly significant contribution to the defense of the interests of traditional lambic beers and the promotion of Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek. This year the honor was given to the Pajot folk group Arjaun. The award was presented in the presence of several members of the High Council.

Folk group Arjaun was founded in 1981 by the Evenepoel brothers. Walter makes the lyrics and is responsible for most of the singing. His brother Dirk plays the banjo and guitar. The brothers were soon joined by bagpiper Stefan Timmermans. With the arrival of accordionist Etienne Wauters and bass player Dirk Van Lierde, Arjaun expanded into a five-member formation. When Stefan emigrated to Spain last year, Arjaun found a worthy successor in Bart Praet.

The members of Arjaun were lured to the famous beer restaurant "De Heeren van Liedekercke" in Denderleeuw. Unsuspectingly, the musicians found a lot of lambic brewers and geuze plugs there. Great was the surprise of the members of Arjaun when it turned out that this was the Lambic Award for them.

“Arjaun is not only very popular in the Pajottenland, but also far beyond. In their songs, they mix beautiful folk stories with good humor. Their songs are often good-sounding tunes that can also be easily sung by the public. Apart from the fact that the group members are all gueuze lovers, different songs explicitly refer to our eating and drinking culture, and more specifically to gueuze, faro and other lambic beers," said HORAL chairman Frank Boon. “Arjaun is regarded as a real regional ambassador. Through their music they play an important role in promoting our traditional lambic beers, and "Oude Geuze" and "Oude Kriek" in particular. It was therefore no surprise that the HORAL members have reached a consensus very quickly to award the Lambic Award 2018 to the musicians of Arjaun.”