Come to Rotterdam and experience the World Port Days at the largest seaport in Europe! Celebrate with ship tours, demonstrations, seminars, excursions, exhibitions, music and fireworks.
World Port Days (Wereldhavendagen) is the biggest annual maritime event in the Netherlands. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people take a peek behind the scenes of Europe’s biggest port: Rotterdam.
Children and adults alike can enjoy visits to the decks of ships, demonstrations on the water and presentations by shipping companies. The extensive cultural programme, with musical performances, markets and more, will delight all sailors-at-heart.
Photo credit: Anne Reitsma
For this special occasion, the festival intends to do justice to the amount of bounding energy that can be found on any given day in the port of Rotterdam. There, you can meet the world through ships from around the globe, and marvel at the port's global importance as a hub of innovation, taking on worldwide challenges such as digitalisation and energy transition.
These concepts are just some of the reasons why Rotterdam is significant on the world map, coming together to create a spectacular festival.
Photo credit: Anne Reitsma
One of the highlights of the World Port Days is the musical and visual spectacle that takes place on Saturday night, from 9pm to 10.30pm. This, and all daytime events taking place on the water, can be viewed from Willemskade, the Erasmus Bridge and from the Holland Amerikakade where a grandstand will be erected.
The event as a whole is free to visit, so you can come on down and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the stalls and exhibitions. Some events are free but need a reservation, and some are paid for events.
The online programme shows which events require payment with a small euro symbol, so it's easy to browse through the different kinds of events. The programme also tells you which of the various tours and talks are in English, so don't worry if learning Dutch hasn't gone as fast as you hoped!
Tickets go on sale from August 19, so check out the programme on the World Port Days website and start working out what you fancy doing!
Thumb photo credit: Anne Reitsma