If you can’t make the Rio Carnival and Notting Hill Carnival, head for the Rotterdam Carnival (Summer Carnival Rotterdam) in the summer on 25 and 26 July, 2025 the Netherlands’s second largest city will explode with a mix of music, comedy, spoken words and partying.
In keeping the city’s vibrant, multicultural nature, the Summer Carnival Rotterdam involves some thousands of people celebrating different tropical carnival traditions.
The festival has seven categories: Queen Election, Warming-up, Battle of Drums, Mercado, Street Parade, Stage Programming and the
History of the Summer Carnival
What once started as a small and cosy cultural / artsy project by the Curacao and Aruban people in the Netherlands has evolved into a large and renowned multicultural event.
Nowadays, people from all over the world (Brazil, Cape Verde, Suriname, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Windward Islands, Spain, UK, Trinidad, Jamaica, France, Germany, Belgium, Angola and the Netherlands) join this festive event.
Rotterdam Carnival Events
To get the full list of Rotterdam Carnival events, click here.
The Hofplein will see the National Battle of the Drums with three bands banging away for the title.
The highlight of the carnival is the Summer Street Parade with 25 carnival groups, and some 2,500 people from 25 nations participating, led by the Summer Carnival Queen in a 2.5-km procession through the city centre.
Rotterdam Carnival Location
To find out the route that the procession will take, click here. This is the largest Caribbean Carnival in the Netherlands.
Rotterdam Carnival 2025 Dates
When is the Rotterdam Carnival? The street parade (De Straatparade) is a highlight if the festival and will be on 26 July, although there are various events throughout July.
Can’t make this carnival, then try our round-up of the best carnivals around the world.
For more information on the Summer Carnival Rotterdam
Click here.
For ideas on things to do in Rotterdam
Visit the tourist information site.
Cover image by Claire Droppert,
