In the early summer of '89 a very informal meeting on the bulge of our Galaxy was held in Leiden. During that meeting Michael Rich proposed to hold a more properly organised symposium on "Galactic Bulges" in a few years time. After some discussion a Scientific Organising Committee was founded and after some manoeuvring a chairman was chosen, a local organiser was assigned and two editors were given instructions. A good thing about the location of the meeting was that Ghent is a very beautiful city and had never before hosted an IAU symposium. It could be that this, plus the fact that he is a very keen amateur astronomer led H. M. the King of Belgium to offer his patronage to the meeting - an offer that we gratefully and - we hope - gracefully accepted. The meeting took place at a resort some 15 km outside Ghent. Most participants were housed on the premises - a very convenient situation. This feeling of togeth­ erness made up for the small shortcomings of the lecture room, which is normally used as a sports hall. The weather was fair, except on the day of the barbecue when pouring rain forced us to go inside.