Finding out what's on in Arnhem
The full events calendar changes weekly, so we are not going to try to duplicate it here — this is where to actually check, plus the handful of fixed dates worth knowing before you arrive.
Where to check what’s on
The most complete, regularly updated listing for the city is Visit Arnhem’s UITagenda, covering concerts, markets, exhibitions, theatre, and festivals across Arnhem and the surrounding region. It is Dutch-language only — there is no English version of the live agenda — but the filters, photos, and dates are usable even without reading Dutch, and event listings are often bilingual or in English anyway. There is no plugin or feed we can pull into this page that stays as current as checking it directly, so that link is your best starting point.
A few fixed dates worth knowing
- 27 April — Koningsdag (King’s Day). The King’s official birthday, and one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Arnhem — the biggest anywhere in Gelderland that day. The city centre turns orange, streets fill with vrijmarkt (free market) stalls where anyone can sell their own secondhand stuff, and free festivals run across town into the evening. If 27 April falls on a Sunday, the whole thing moves to the 26th.
- 5 May — Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day). Arnhem marks it with a free festival in Sonsbeek Park (recent editions have run as the Flow Freedom Festival) — music, food stalls, and a genuinely city-wide atmosphere.
- September — Airborne Herdenkingen (Airborne commemorations). Arnhem was the site of the WWII Battle of Arnhem (“A Bridge Too Far”), and every September the city holds memorial services, parachute drops, and the Airborne Wandeltocht walking march. It is a genuinely big deal locally — worth understanding as a newcomer even if you do not attend, since it shapes how the city talks about itself.
- Sonsbeek sculpture exhibition. Historically a recurring outdoor art exhibition in Sonsbeek Park going back to 1949, though it no longer runs on a fixed schedule — worth a quick search for its current status rather than assuming it is on this year.
Also check your own institution’s calendar (HAN, ArtEZ, or Van Hall Larenstein) directly — orientation weeks and international-student-specific events usually will not show up on the citywide agenda at all.