Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival

The Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival is the largest Caribbean street party in the Netherlands with more than 2.500 dancers, 25 carnival groups and 30 floats. An offshoot of the carnival in the Caribbean, this colourful procession sparks with the spirit of diversity in Rotterdam. Thousands of visitors come to admire the dazzling floats, the extravagant costumes and the catchy rhythms.

Come and party Caribbean-style summer festival in the streets of multi-cultural Rotterdam at the 2024 Summer Carnival!

Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival 2024 (Zomercarnaval Rotterdam)

Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival 2024 is set to be an amazing one! In December 2023, the carnival was placed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and 2024 is its 40-year anniversary, so there's a lot to celebrate this year! The unmissable highlights of Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival are:

Royalty Election

The Royalty Election is the festive kick-off for Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival and each year audiences wait in suspense to find out who will become the new Queen and King of Summer Carnival. 

The chosen winner is typically prominently featured during the Summer Carnival Street Parade. For one year they will carry the title and together act as ambassadors as the face of Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival and the festival's organisers, Stichting Zomercarnaval Nederland. They will represent the event and the organisation, both within and outside the Netherlands.

Photo: Salwa Afef via Shutterstock

Art exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam

In order to celebrate 40 years of the Summer Carnival, this summer there is a big exhibition of photos, videos and costumes covering the history of the event at the Kunsthal Rotterdam. If you want to immerse yourself in the history of the carnival and the ever-changing, diverse cultural make-up of the city, or even just get some costume ideas, this is the place to start! The exhibition runs from July 13 - October 13.

Rueda de Casino

A fixture of the carnival for many years now is the Rueda de Casino. This is a group dance event, originating in Cuba, where anyone can take part! On the square outside Rotterdam Central Train Station, from 12pm to 4pm, anyone can join in the ongoing dance where you follow a dance leader and change partners on command. You don't have to have any experience and just joining in is very much encouraged.

Street Parade

The highlight of Summer Carnival is undoubtedly the street parade, which takes place on July 27. Get ready for 2.500 dancers, 25 carnival groups, 25 music groups and DJs, elaborate costumes, dances and hundreds of thousands of fellow pleasure-seekers. The streets of Rotterdam are arguably livelier during Summer Carnival than any other time of year! Later in the evening, the celebration continues with bands at the Hofplein. 

Mercado

In between partying and watching performances refuel at the Mercado, where a buzzing Festival Market sells traditional dishes and drinks such as Surinamese seasoned chicken from the barbecue, Antillean sateh ku batata, tropical crushed ice and much more. The market doesn’t just sell food: check out the great merchandise like fashionable bags, accessories, fancy gadgets and vintage clothing!

Photo: Bas Rabeling via Shutterstock

Pre-parties and After-parties

Do not miss the big after-parties that follow the day's free events. Tickets this year start from 6,50 euros, and the parties take place in either Club Sahara or Poppodium Annabel. These events will keep the beats going long into the night.

This year, there is also the Summer Carnival Festival. This brings the party to Friday night as a pre-party and Saturday night. Tickets for this are 30 euros, and it is a jam-packed line-up that really won't end until well into the next day. Taking place a little outside of town, you need to get a shuttle bus to the venue, so make sure you add that on when buying your tickets.

Origins of Summer Carnival in Rotterdam

Taking place since 1984, the Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival, or Zomercarnaval Rotterdam in Dutch, zeroes in on the multicultural make-up of the city to activate the cherished Caribbean and Latin American tradition.

Unlike their counterparts across the Atlantic, the pre-Lent Carnivals in Northern Europe, unfortunately, take place at too cold a time to imitate this sort of celebration. Instead of missing out on this tradition, the organisers in Rotterdam simply decided to change the date while leaving the celebration unchanged.

With thousands of costumed dancers, massive floats, brass bands, drummers and its very own elected Queen, the street parade and side events of the Rotterdam Caribbean Festival are now amongst the most popular events in the city. The Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival now takes place over the course of two days and is one of the biggest free street festivals in Europe.

You can get tickets for the pre- and after-parties on the Rotterdam Unlimited Summer Carnival website, as well as check out the times and locations of the free events.

Video credit: Youtube / Rotterdam Unlimited Zomercarnaval

Thumb photo: Anda Manea via Shutterstock