Even 6,000 km from home, I still try to keep an eye on what’s happening in Belgium—and especially Brussels. And I couldn’t help but notice that the Brussels Twittersphere has been pretty active these last few weeks. Turns out, there’s been a lot happening around the organization of the local edition of the Twestival 2009.

It’s happening on February 12 at 4:30 PM at the Botanique. Here’s what’s lined up for the Brussels edition:

3 Bands, 1 DJ, 1 unconference, ONE big party. You choose your ticket price. Discuss Social Media for Social Change from 5pm, then party to Cachaï, NÔ, Amatorski, and DJ Jooles from 8pm to 1am.

I was contacted by Amanda (the person behind the project) and Christian De Neef (Belgium event coordinator) to help with the planning, but unfortunately, my trip to Québec meant I couldn’t be involved. Still, I really wanted to highlight this amazing project: Twestival.

Tweet. Meet. Give.

On 12 February 2009 175+ cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

This project proves Twitter isn’t just a tool for geeks or comms pros. It’s also (and above all) a massive human network—people coming together for a good cause. I hope Twestival is a huge success and inspires others to launch their own socially-driven initiatives.

I encourage everyone to take part and support this event—it’s absolutely worth it. Check out the official site and follow @brutwestival (event hashtag: #twestival) to stay in the loop.

Edit: Here’s a growing list of Belgian and Brussels-based folks talking about the event:

La Libre Belgique, RTL Info, Blogging the News, Walloweb, New Europe, Clo Willaerts, DJ Nozem, Blueclock, Julie B-Log, Cachaï, Sigrid schrift, Webatou, Kevin De Mulder, Zoltan Janosi, Grapplica, Vinch, Matthew Kimberley, Blairwatch, Causecast, Hyves, Expatica, Bente Kalsnes.