Parties, parties, and more parties

Partying during the summer holidays. Who wouldn't want that? Drinks, dancing, and enjoying all kinds of music. Usually, the atmosphere is great and it's linked to another event. For example, the Ghent Festivities, Rotterdam Summer Carnival, the Four Days Marches Festivities, and the Tilburg Fair. So enjoy it in your own country while you still can, with nice weather. Sunshine and music, baby!

Four-day celebrations

The Nijmegen Four Days Marches Festivals are an annual event that has been held since 1970 during the week of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. This is usually the third full week of July. This year, they will be held from July 18 to 24, 2026. Until 1998, the event was commonly known as the Summer Festivals, but that name was replaced by the current one to strengthen the link with the march itself for outsiders. Colloquially, people sometimes still refer to it as “the summer festivals”. See the site: https://www.vierdaagsefeesten.nl/

During this event, various artists perform throughout the city center of Nijmegen, in a wide range of musical styles. Every year, the Nijmegen Vierdaagsefeesten attract approximately 1,5 million visitors over 7 evenings. The record number of people who attended the festivities stands at 1.625.000 visitors in 2019. Large stages featuring pop music are located on the Grote Markt, in the Molenstraat, on the Mariënburgplein/Faberplein, Plein 1944, and the Kelfkensbos. Since 2022, there has been a stage for electronic music in the Kronenburgerpark; until 2019, this was a stage for jazz and world music. Dutch Schlager music is played on the Joris Ivensplein. Valkhof Festival (formerly de-Affaire) can be found in the Valkhof during the week, featuring primarily rock and alternative music; nightclub The Matrixx organizes a dance event in the Hunnerpark in addition to the main stage on the Waalkade. The Festival op het Eiland, formerly Habana aan de Waal, is held on the other side of the Waal. According to tradition, a grand fireworks display is set off from the Waal on Sunday evening (“Waal in Vlammen”). In 2012 and 2013, this did not take place due to repair work on the Waalkade. In 2014, the fireworks were set off on Tuesday evening; however, from 2015 onwards, this was moved to Sunday evening so that walkers could also attend the event. In 2020 and 2021, the fireworks were not set off due to the coronavirus pandemic that broke out in 2020, resulting in the entire Vierdaagsefeesten being cancelled in those years. In 2026, the fireworks were set off two days later due to a technical malfunction on the boat from which the fireworks were launched. Oil leaked and came into contact with the fireworks, meaning the fireworks could not be safely set off on Sunday evening, and the show that day had to be cancelled at the last minute. As an alternative, the fireworks were set off that year on the first day of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. Another traditional performance is the facade concert on the Grote Markt, which is held on Sunday evening. This concert was first held in the Molenstraat in 1983 and moved to the Grote Markt in 1987. In 2015, it was cancelled due to the relocated fireworks, but it resumed in 2017.

Tilburg Fair

The Tilburg Fair is the largest fair in the Benelux. This fair is held in the North Brabant city of Tilburg. Every year, between 230 and 240 attractions from both the Netherlands and abroad are set up along a 4,5-kilometer stretch through the city center. The fair attracts more than a million visitors annually, making it one of the best-attended events in the Netherlands. In 2010, the Tilburg Fair celebrated its 440th anniversary, although it later turned out to be 443 years. Although the fair consists predominantly of modern attractions, there is also room for a nostalgic fair. See the site: https://kermistilburg.nl/

Summer Carnival Rotterdam

Rotterdam currently has more than 170 different nationalities. With this wide range of origins, the port city is known as one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in Europe and the world. Time for a mega party on the last weekend of July. The Rotterdam Summer Carnival will take place in 2026 on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25. The absolute highlight, the colorful Street Parade, will make its way along a 5-kilometer route through the city center on Saturday, July 25, 2026, starting at 12:00 PM. The parade traditionally starts at the Blaak and passes along the Witte de Withstraat, the Museumpark, the Nieuwe Binnenweg, and the Weena, among other locations. See the website: https://www.zomercarnaval.org/ The Summer Carnival is an annual event in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The event offers a variation on the carnival of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Over the years, the Summer Carnival has grown to such an extent that Cape Verdean and Latin American groups also participate.

The Zomercarnaval Nederland Foundation offers a platform to cultural communities to celebrate cultural diversity through music, dance, food, costumes, and conviviality. The Zomercarnaval Rotterdam event fosters connection and joy among participants and the public. In doing so, the foundation plays an important role in the cultural and festive life of the Netherlands. Zomercarnaval Rotterdam is an event that focuses on bringing together different cultures through tropical carnival expressions, comparable to those in the Antilles. The first editions of the event took place in Utrecht in 1982 and 1983, where a number of Antillean carnival associations from Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Amsterdam held a parade across the Jaarbeursplein. Since 1984, Zomercarnaval has been held in Rotterdam, and the event has grown to become an important part of Rotterdam, but even more so a part of the Dutch population. Since its inception, the Zomercarnaval Nederland Foundation has received much assistance from a group of volunteers, both permanent and rotating. The event, which once began as an Antillean celebration, has since grown into a multicultural festival that brings together people from different cultural backgrounds to party and enjoy diverse cultural expressions. Even groups of people who are not traditionally familiar with summer carnival in their (carnival) culture are part of this event and its organization. This demonstrates that people from different cultures can live and celebrate together, which remains important given the problems of social segregation between different groups of people.

Ghent Festivities

The Ghent Festivities are a festival that takes over the entire city center of Ghent, the Kuip, for ten days. The program includes both free and paid activities. In addition to outdoor activities, there are theater shows, guided walks, and visits to monuments and museums. This year, they will be held from July 17 to 26, 2026. See the website: https://gentsefeesten.stad.gent/nl

Along with Oktoberfest in Munich, the Vierdaagsefeesten in Nijmegen, and Las Fallas in Valencia, the Ghent Festivities are among the largest folk festivals in Europe. In 2021, the Ghent Festivities were recognized as intangible cultural heritage by the Flemish Minister of Culture.

It began nearly two centuries ago as an initiative of the bourgeoisie to curb absenteeism among workers: from then on, one central city festival per year instead of countless neighborhood fairs. In the 1970s, singer and artist Walter De Buck breathed new life into the stagnant Ghent Festivities, with great success.

Ghent, July 1871. The late summer sun disappears behind the horizon and Ghent residents of all walks of life are getting ready for the annual folk ball on the Kouter. An experienced team of 'lamplighters' hurries to light the thousands of enchanting candles on the square, armed with long ladders. Soon, the Kouter is bathed in a fairytale light, ready for the festivities.

Since the inception of the Ghent Festivities, the folk ball on the Kouter is the only constant to survive nearly two centuries of festivities. The Dutch writer EJ Potgieter described the 'illuminated music temple in the middle of the square; garlands of lanterns from tree to tree … the peculiarst spectacle in the world'. Today, the event is called 'Bal1900' and is still organized on Sunday evening on the Kouter in true Belle Époque style. A historical relic of a forgotten era, for the face of the Ghent Festivities has undergone profound changes over the years.