Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in the Netherlands
- Before planning a trip around a festival, verify the festival dates on the festival's website or with a local tourist information office. For more information about these and other events, visit the official tourism site for the Netherlands.
- This list includes major festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed throughout the Netherlands. Many sights and banks close down on national holidays — keep it in mind when planning your itinerary. Note that this isn't a complete list; holidays can strike without warning.
- See upcoming holidays and festivals across Europe
2023
October 15: Amsterdam Marathon
October 18–22: Amsterdam Dance Event (electronic music)
November 1–4: Crossing Border Festival, The Hague (books, music, spoken word; much of it in English)
November 4: Museum Night Amsterdam
November 8–19: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
November 19: Sinterklaas Procession, Amsterdam (when Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet arrive from Spain)
November 30–January 21, 2024: Amsterdam Light Festival
December 5: St. Nicholas' Eve (Sinterklaasavond, when Dutch children get their presents from Sinterklaas)
December 25: Christmas (Kerstmis; closures)
December 26: "Second Day" of Christmas (Tweede Kerstdag; closures)
2024
January 1: New Year's Day (closures; icewater swims across the Netherlands, most notably in Scheveningen)
Through January 21: Amsterdam Light Festival
January 20: National Tulip Day, Amsterdam (official start of tulip season; tulips fill Dam Square and are free for the picking in the afternoon)
January 25–28: Jumping Amsterdam (international equestrian competition)
February–March: Carnival (Mardi Gras) celebrations in various towns, mostly in the south
March 21–May 12: Keukenhof flower show, near Lisse (huge gardens in bloom)
March 27–April 1: KunstRAI Art Amsterdam (contemporary-art exhibition)
March 31 & April 1: Easter Sunday and Monday (closures)
April 13–14: Rotterdam Marathon
April 17–21: Bloemencorso (25-mile flower parade from Noordwijk to Haarlem)
April 27: King's Day (Koningsdag, King Willem-Alexander's birthday; party in the streets of Amsterdam and elsewhere)
May 4: Remembrance of WWII Dead (Dodenherdenking; laying of wreaths and two-minute silence)
May 5: Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag; closures; Liberation Festival in Amsterdam with live music)
May 9: Ascension (closures)
May 19 & 20: Pentecost and Whit Monday (closures)
June: Holland Arts Festival, Amsterdam (concerts, theater, etc.)
June 13–16 (likely): Festival Classique, Scheveningen
June 21: Grachtenloop run around canals, Haarlem
June 21–23: Pinkpop, near Maastricht (rock festival)
June 23 (likely): Amsterdam Roots Festival (ethnic food, music, world culture)
July 12–14: North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam
July 23–27 (likely): Rotterdam Unlimited (street festival with live performances)
July 27–August 4: Amsterdam Pride
Two weekends in August (likely): International Fireworks Festival, Scheveningen
August 9–17 (likely): Pluk de Nacht Utrecht (outdoor film festival on the site of an old harbor)
August 9–18 (likely): Grachtenfestival (music and festivities on Prinsengracht barges, Amsterdam)
August 14–18 (likely): Haarlem Jazz & More (free jazz festival on Grote Markt)
August 15: Assumption (closures)
August 16–September 1 (likely): De Parade Theatre Festival, Amsterdam (outdoor theater with some "language no problem" performances for non-Dutch speakers); also held earlier in the year in four other Dutch cities
August 21–31 (likely): Pluk de Nacht Amsterdam (outdoor film festival on the site of an old harbor)
August 22–24 (likely): Jazz in the Canal (Jazz in de Gracht), The Hague
September 27–28 (likely): Jordaan Festival, Amsterdam (neighborhood street party)
September (first week): Flower parade on canals, from Aalsmeer to Amsterdam
September 7–8 (likely): Open Monumentendag (normally closed historical sites open and free to the public)
September 24–25: Yom Kippur (some closures of Jewish-history sights, including Anne Frank House and Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam)