CONCERTS, SHOWS, EXHIBITS & COMEDY | ExpatINFO Holland (2024)

Below you can find upcoming theater, film, comedy, exhibition and concert events in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven and elsewhere in the Netherlands…

NOTE: Events are listed by category: Comedy, Concert, Exhibit, Film and Show. Current/ongoing events are listed first followed by upcoming events in chronological order. If multiple events occur the same day, they are sorted alphabetically by city. If an event occurs on multiple dates, all dates will be noted chronologically within one listing.

ENTERTAINMENT IN NETHERLANDS

The following is a brief overview of the entertainment scene for expats in the Netherlands, with insight about concerts, movies, theater plays, musicals and stand-up comedy performances that take place in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Tilburg and elsewhere in Holland.

NETHERLANDS CONCERTS

Amsterdam attracts top international artists on European tours. In 2018 the city hosted 39% of all music concerts that took place in the Netherlands that year.

The most popular concert venue in Amsterdam is the 18,000-seat Ziggo Dome indoor arena which has welcomed the likes of Elton John, U2, Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga.

The adjacent Johan Cruijff Arena, is the Netherlands largest sports stadium seating 55,000 fans for Ajax football games. It is sometimes used to host mega concerts (seating up to 70,000). Scheduled summer 2024 concerts include Taylor Swift (3 shows) and P!nk (2 shows).

Other popular Amsterdam concert venues include AFAS Live (capacity 6,000), Melkweg (capacity 1,500) and Paradiso (capacity 1,500).

Rotterdam also attracts well-known international music acts with its 16,000-seat Ahoy arena. Artists who have performed there in the past include Britney Spears, Michael Bublé, Jennifer Lopez and the Backstreet Boys. At the same location is the recently constructed RTM Stage with a capacity of 7,000.

Arnhem is another Dutch city with a large sports arena, the GelreDome (capacity 34,000-41,000) that is occasionally used to host concerts. Artists scheduled for 2024 concerts at the GelreDome include The Eagles and Green Day.

Other cities and venues where international artists perform in the Netherlands include De Effinaar and Muziekgebouw (Eindhoven), De Oosterpoort (Groningen), Patronaat (Haarlem), Paard van Troje (The Hague), 013 (Tilburg), TivoliVredenburg (Utrecht) and De Boerderij (Zoetermeer).

NETHERLANDS MUSIC FESTIVALS

The Netherlands is known for its music festivals; approximately 1,800 are organized each year. Among the larger annual musical festivals are Milkshake (Amsterdam), PaasPop (Den Bosch), Eurosonic (Groningen), PinkPop (Landgraaf), North Sea Jazz Festival, Metropolis (Rotterdam), BosPop (Weert) and Concert at Sea (Zeeland).

The Dutch PinkPop (Landgraaf) festival holds the world record as the oldest continuous music festival, having run 49 years straight (1970-2019). The 2020 and 2021 editions of PinkPop were cancelled due to Covid-19.

Electronic, dance, techno, house and trance are popular music genres in the Netherlands. Dutch DJs and music producers are at the forefront of this music scene. Many have achieved international success including Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Martin Garrix and Tiesto.

NETHERLANDS CINEMAS & FILM

Big budget Hollywood movies will generally open in Dutch cinemas around the same time they are released in the United States. Art house and lower-budget films, on the other hand, may be released weeks or even months after they open in American theaters.

Hollywood films in English are shown this way in cinemas but with Dutch subtitles. The exception to this rule is with children’s films.

Animated movies and other films for kids are dubbed in Dutch (and will not have English subtitles). Cinemas in larger cities, including Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam, may show the original version in English on one screen in addition to the Dutch version on multiple screens. Be aware the English-language version will be denoted by the letters ‘OV‘ (original version).

In total, there are over 600 movie screens in the Netherlands. The largest cinema chains are Pathe, Kinepolis and VUE.

There are a number of large film festivals in the Netherlands during the year. These include the International Film Festival Rotterdam (January), Movies That Matter Festival (March, The Hague), Nederlands Film Festival (September, Utrecht), Leiden International Film Festival (October) and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (November).

The Dutch box office is generally dominated by Hollywood films. These were the Netherlands top 10 films of 2023.

NETHERLANDS THEATER PLAYS

Theater plays in the Netherlands are always performed in Dutch. Exceptions are those productions by international theater groups like The English Theatre , AATG, Leiden English Theatre and IDEA.

NETHERLANDS MUSICALS

Musical theater is popular in the Netherlands and shows will either travel to multiple cities or run for an extended period in just one location. The productions themselves are generally revivals of well-known West End or Broadway shows. Spoken dialogue is almost always in Dutch with the score performed in English.

Theater (‘schouwburg’) venues in the Netherlands include De Meervaart, Carre Theater and DeLeMar Theater (Amsterdam), Chasse Theater (Breda), Parktheater (Eindhoven), Martiniplaza (Groningen), Amare, Circustheater and World Form Theater (The Hague), Stadsschouwburg (Nijmegen), Luxor and Nieuwe Luxor Theatre (Rotterdam) and Beatrixtheater (Utrecht).

NETHERLANDS DANCE PERFORMANCES

The Netherlands has many highly respected dance troupes which perform in their home dance hall as well as tour the country. Contemporary, modern jazz and ballet are all popular dance genres in Holland. Prominent troupes include the Dutch National Ballet (Amsterdam), Nederlands Dans Theater and De Dutch Don’t Dance Division (The Hague), Scapino Ballet and Conny Janssen Danst (Rotterdam).

MORE NETHERLANDS EVENTS…