Herge's boy reporter celebrated his 75th anniversary last year
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Comic book hero Tintin is celebrated this week in a four-day festival to be held in the Belgian capital Brussels.
A giant mural of the cartoon reporter, his dog Snowy and his partner Captain Haddock will be unveiled on 20 July in the city's Grand Place.
It will be followed by soap-box races, exhibitions and a costume party.
"The idea is to organise a festival every two years - in Brussels, Belgium or abroad," said Nick Rodwell, husband of Tintin creator Herge's widow.
Mr Rodwell is also administrator of the company holding the rights to Herge's works, Moulinsart, and the Herge Foundation.
Herge - real name Georges Remi - created 23 Tintin adventures which have been translated into 60 languages and sold more than 200 million copies.
Aimed at "Tintinophiles aged seven to 77", the festival will feature a Tintin rally, guided walks through Brussels and a rare screening of the 1941 film version of The Crab with the Golden Claws.
On Saturday, a flea market will be opened in the same spot where Tintin found a model ship at the beginning of his classic 1943 adventure, The Secret of the Unicorn.
Organisers say Herge "has become the best ambassador for his home town" - even though the majority of his books take place outside Belgium's borders.
Tintin's 75th anniversary in 2004 was marked with the minting of a commemorative 10-euro coin and an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
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