Maastricht holds the biggest of the Dutch carnivals, a three-day party that's extended to a full week by some seasoned revellers. The show starts for...
The s-Hertogenbosch Carnival or "festival of fools" is celebrated at carnival time in many towns in the Netherlands, especially in the southern provinces...
Themes:
Entertainment
, Spectacle
, Kids' Stuff
, Music
Amsterdam is sometimes called the 'Miracle City', and one particular miracle is remembered each year with a special mass and an historic procession. According...
About 700,000 people visit Keukenhof Gardens each spring to admire the tulips and other bulb flowers in full bloom. This incredible display of colour...
Classical music lovers will be enthralled by the choral skills of The Daysey and Traveling Men Choirs. Both choirs will be travelling from the Bryn Mawr...
Amsterdam is well blessed with museums, with many of them being grouped around the Museumplein on the south side of the centre. Museums here, and in the...
Thrillers, science fiction, horror and cult movies are the mainstay of the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, and has been terrifying audiences since...
Up to a million people take to the streets of Amsterdam for the annual Queen's Birthday celebrations to join in with the dancing and the fun. Carnival...
Themes:
Spectacle
, Kids' Stuff
, Music
, Pop(ular)
, History
, Food & Drink
The Aqua Musica Festival on the IJ is a unique experience. Small ensemble music concerts are given on board 50 historic ships at anchor in the Oosterdok,...
Coinciding with National Windmill Day, this day in May is when Dutch people take to their bicycles to follow way-marked circuits or some of the thousands...
So central are windmills to the nation's heritage that a National Windmill and Pumping Station Day is held to celebrate their vital role in draining the...
Launched in 2005, the Amsterdam Literary Festival aims to put the city on the literary map. It features talks by authors together with workshops, a literary...
Themes:
Entertainment
, Music
, Spectacle
, Art & Literature
Amsterdam's annual June festival includes opera, theatre, music and dance performed at a dozen venues throughout the city. About 90 performances take...
This festival seeks out and presents new forms and new acts within the massive range that world music offers. Fans can sample the great variety and richness...
Themes:
Spectacle
, Kids' Stuff
, Dance
, Culture
, Entertainment
, Music
This is one of the biggest events on the TT World Championship calendar and, although the circuit improvements made in 2005 did away with the legendary...
Themes:
Exhibitions
, Entertainment
, Spectacle
, Sport
A summer festival of dance, Julidans takes place in a number of venues around Leidseplein and offers a rich overview of the contemporary scene. Each year...
Themes:
Dance
, Entertainment
, Culture
, Spectacle
The popular Kwakoe Festival is Amsterdam's biggest multicultural festival and the main festive event of the Surinamese black and African community. Kwakoe...
Themes:
Theatre & Film
, Entertainment
, Culture
, Sport
, Exhibitions
, Dance
, Food & Drink
, Music
A combination of funfair, theatre, music, dance and circus, 'De Parade' festival increases in popularity year on year. With colourful marquees, a ferris...
Themes:
Kids' Stuff
, Dance
, Entertainment
, Food & Drink
, Theatre & Film
, Music
The legendary North Sea Jazz Festival moved from its traditional home in The Hague to Rotterdam in 2006, but its formula and aims remain intact. Several...
Themes:
Pop(ular)
, Exhibitions
, Music
, Spectacle
, Art & Literature
, Entertainment
, Culture
Up to 45,000 walkers take part in the biggest walking event in the world - the International Four Days' Marches of Nijmegen. Depending on ability, walkers...
Amsterdam International Fashion Week (AIFW), held twice a year, is quickly becoming known as a young and directional alternative to Europe's more traditional...
The spectacular Tall Ship Races sees about 40 traditional sailing vessels take to the waters in an awe-inspiring race across the ocean. The ships are...
Themes:
History
, Kids' Stuff
, Sport
, Exhibitions
One of the largest gay and lesbian events in Europe is held in mid-summer in Amsterdam - one of the most open-minded cities in the world. The highlight...
Themes:
Spectacle
, Sport
, Dance
, Gay & Lesbian
, Theatre & Film
, Food & Drink
, Entertainment
, Music
This cultural festival began in Amsterdam in 2004 and is now an annual event. Each day new bands and artists perform on stage and there are theatre shows...
Themes:
Theatre & Film
, Kids' Stuff
, Music
, Food & Drink
Deventer on the river Ijssel was one of the famous Hanseatic trading towns in its day, and it preserves much of its impressive early architecture and...
Themes:
Kids' Stuff
, Art & Literature
, Spectacle
, History
, Entertainment
The Pluk de Nacht film festival features the best of the international arthouse films which don't normally get distributed in Holland introducing festival...
What was once a free festival of classical music presented on the canal bank in front of Hotel Pulitzer has expanded into a five-day programme consisting...
Themes:
Entertainment
, Music
, History
, Spectacle
In the heart of Maastricht, the central square fills with more than 40 marquees and stalls at the end of August for a drinking, dining and entertainment...
Themes:
Music
, Exhibitions
, Entertainment
, Spectacle
, Food & Drink
'Oude Muziek Utrecht' is a 10-day programme featuring music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque period, the Classical and Early-Romantic...
It is late summer, just before the start of the theatre season, and the people of Amsterdam are beginning to think about which performances they would...
Themes:
Dance
, Kids' Stuff
, Theatre & Film
, Entertainment
, Spectacle
, Music
