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Rotterdam’s event calendar runs all year, anchored by the world’s largest indoor jazz festival in July and one of Europe’s biggest street carnivals. Because the city is a port and business hub, hotels stay open and reasonably priced outside the big festival weekends, so you can plan around a specific event without paying a huge premium. These are the Rotterdam events and festivals worth scheduling a trip around, with dates and locations.
Rotterdam Events and Festivals: Winter
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
The IFFR runs from late January to early February each year; the 2025 edition ran January 30 to February 9 across cinemas citywide, with the main venue at De Doelen. It is one of Europe’s biggest independent film festivals, screening hundreds of features, documentaries and shorts. Day tickets and festival passes sell through iffr.com, and central hotels price up slightly during the opening weekend.
Rotterdam Art Week
Rotterdam Art Week, held over a long weekend in early February, opens the doors of galleries, studios and the city’s art institutions including the Kunsthal and the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. Many events are free, with the Art Rotterdam fair at the Van Nelle Factory (a UNESCO World Heritage building) as the ticketed centrepiece. Check artrotterdam.com for exact dates, which shift slightly each year.
Rotterdam Events and Festivals: Spring
NN Rotterdam Marathon
The NN Rotterdam Marathon takes place on a Sunday in mid-April (April 13 in 2025), starting and finishing on the Coolsingel in the city centre. It draws around 17,000 runners and is one of the fastest flat marathon courses in the world. Roads close across the centre from early morning, so avoid driving in that weekend, and book hotels well ahead because rooms near the course sell out.
King’s Day
King’s Day on April 27 turns the whole country orange, and Rotterdam holds free markets, street parties and boat parties along the Maas and in the Oude Haven. The centre gets busy from mid-morning, and public transport runs on a reduced holiday schedule. Wear orange, bring cash for the vrijmarkt (flea market) stalls, and expect trains to and from Amsterdam to be packed all day.
Liberation Festival (Bevrijdingsfestival)
On May 5, Liberation Day marks the end of the German occupation in 1945 with free open-air concerts. Rotterdam’s Bevrijdingsfestival takes over Het Park beside the Euromast with stages running from early afternoon into the evening. It is free to enter, food and drink are card-only at the stalls, and the finale usually wraps around 23:00.
Rotterdam Events and Festivals: Summer
North Sea Round Town
North Sea Round Town is the fringe programme for the jazz festival, running about three weeks before the main event (June 22 to July 9 in 2025) with more than 375 concerts across 125 venues in the city, most of them free. It is the best-value way to hear live jazz in Rotterdam if you cannot get North Sea Jazz tickets.
NN North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz, held the second weekend of July (July 11 to 13 in 2025) at Rotterdam Ahoy, is the largest indoor jazz festival in the world, with over 150 performances on 17 stages covering jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop. Day tickets start around €100, and hotels across the city sell out months ahead, so book accommodation before buying tickets. The Ahoy is a 5-minute metro ride from the centre on line D.
Rotterdam Summer Carnival (Zomercarnaval)
The Zomercarnaval street parade, held on a Saturday in late July (July 26 in 2025), brings Caribbean music, costumes and floats through the city centre in a 5-kilometre procession watched by hundreds of thousands of people. The parade is free to watch from the roadside; arrive early for a spot along the route, and expect metro stations in the centre to be extremely busy.
Rotterdam Events and Festivals: Autumn and Winter
World Port Days (Wereldhavendagen)
World Port Days, held the first weekend of September (September 5 to 7 in 2025), opens up the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest, with free ship tours, demonstrations on the water and a fireworks finale over the Maas on the Sunday night. The main activity zone is around the Erasmus Bridge and the Wilhelminapier. It is free to attend, though some boat tours require booking in advance.
Christmas Markets and New Year’s Eve
From late November through December, Rotterdam runs Christmas markets around the Markthal and the ice rink on the Binnenrotte square, alongside winter light installations. On New Year’s Eve, the National Fireworks show launches from the Erasmus Bridge at midnight, with the best free viewing spots along the north bank. Book a hotel with a river view early if you want to watch from your room. For planning help, see the best time to visit Rotterdam and Rotterdam weather by month guides.
