Liberation Day
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5th May: Liberation Day and festival

Following directly on from Remembrance Day, 5 May is a national day of celebration known as Liberation Day throughout Haarlem and the Netherlands. You will find a wide variety of entertainment and events taking place to commemorate the liberation…
Mud Masters Obstacle Run
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Mud Masters Obstacle Run 2018

Doing Mud Masters is one for the bucket list. A day full of mud, obstacles and fun with your friends – one that years later you’ll look back on with a smile and brag about at get-togethers with friends and family. This year the Mud Masters…
Keukenhof spring garden
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Keukenhof Spring Garden open 22 March-13 May 2018

Keukenhof, the world’s most beautiful spring garden, opens its doors from 22 March to 13 May 2018. Keukenhof Spring Garden Keukenhof (“Kitchen garden”, also known as the Garden of Europe), is one of the world’s largest flower…
Experience Haarlemmermeer
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Experience Haarlemmermeer Fair 2018

Get information, meet services and businesses, attend free workshops and presentations, enjoy a stand up comedy, live music, networking, meeting people and having fun! Free professional childcare and kids entertainment is available during…
New Year's Drink 2018
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New Year's Comedy Night & Drink 2018

Join the Haarlem New Year's Comedy Night 2018 and/or the expatsHaarlem New Year's Drink 2018 on Friday evening, 26 January, in the gorgeous ancient building of the Societeit Vereeniging Haarlem. New Year's Comedy Night Attend the funniest…
New Year's plunge
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New Year's plunge

Those crazy Dutch! Once you survived Sinterklaas, Christmas and dodged the fireworks during new years eve you think you can finally relax. Well, guess again. How the tradition started I don't know but on the first of January masses of children,…
Amsterdam Light Festival
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Amsterdam Light Festival 2017 - 2018 

Amsterdam's winter festival returns each year to illuminate the city's streets and waterways with fantastic light installations by international artists. Find out more about where, when and how to see this year's works!  Amsterdam Light Festival…
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My First Sinterklaas

This past weekend on the evening of December 5th, I celebrated my first Sinterklaas. I first learned of the old Dutch custom earlier this year when moving to Haarlem with my Dutch boyfriend. As a Canadian new to the tradition, I would like…
Christmas Market
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Haarlem’s Christmas Market Photo Walk

The Christmas Market in Haarlem is one of the biggest and nicest Christmas markets in the whole Netherlands and Benelux.  Every year the city turns in a real spectacle. This year the Christmas Market will take place on Saturday 9 and Sunday…
Sinterklaas
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Sinterklaas versus Santa Claus

They both work in the same sector, wear red, and have a big white beard. For Piet's sake: what's the difference?  The Big Day Sinterklaas: Sinterklaas' "heerlijk avondje" / delicious is 5 December, although Sint arrives with a steamer…
Festival
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How to celebrate the festive period in Haarlem

December is here! To some its the most wonderful time of the year. This is what the city of Haarlem is up to during this festive period. Haarlems Winterbier Festival Come and enjoy the Haarlems Winter Beer Festival on the 9th & 10th…
teachers
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Dutch teachers on strike

What are you doing on the 12th of December? It’s quite possible your kids are free that day because of a teachers’ strike. The 5th of December is the deadline for a decision. If nothing has improved, a strike will follow. But why are the…
Black Friday
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Black Friday in Haarlem

It's black Friday! Find an overview of the (web)shops that participate to Black Friday 2017.  Visit their shop or find the webshop with Google for great sales deals! Black Friday Black Friday is an informal name for the day following Thanksgiving…
Jip & Janneke (image: Annie M.G. Schmidt)
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Crafting a lantern for Sint Maarten

On November 11, it's Sint Maarten (Saint Martin)' s Day. Sint Maarten is a great children’s event! Ringing doorbells, singing songs at the doors in exchange for a treat (sweets, mandarins or even some small coins) and - as darkness falls -…
Sint Maarten
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Sint Maarten's Day

St. Martin's Day or Sint Maarten in Dutch is a popular children's feast day in many parts of the Netherlands and it is celebrated on 11 November.  Typically, in the early winter evening of 11 November, small groups of children can…
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Experience Haarlem Fair

Speeches, presentations, workshops, exhibitors, kids entertainment, Tierney's Pub Quiz, popular music band The Buccaneers, drinks, meeting people & having fun. Join the largest bilingual fair in the Haarlem area! The program will cover…
Concours Hippique Haarlemmermeer
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A fantastic program during Concours Hippique Haarlemmermeer 2017

The Concours Hippique Haarlemmermeer comes back again. From Friday, June 16 to Sunday, June 18, 2017, it's full enjoyment in the Haarlemmermeerse Bos in Hoofddorp.   History Almost as old as the polder itself: the Concours Hippique…
Housing event
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Housing Event 2017 & Social Networking Drink

Planning to rent, let, buy, build sell, renovate a house? Wanting to know how to get the best of your life abroad, know more about the International School Haarlem, or are you just interested in a social networking drink? This is the event…
Kings Day 2017
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Kings Day Haarlem 2017

If you haven't heard, it's Kings Day on Thursday. It's time to drill holes into your house for that flag pole (if you haven't already got one), grab an orange item of clothing, paint your face red, white and blue and wrap up warm because the…
Bloemencorso
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Bloemencorso Flower Parade Bollenstreek 2017

Enjoy this weekend the unique Flower Parade of the Bollenstreek.  Colourful floats decorated with bulb flowers such as hyacinths, tulips and daffodils will be towed past you along the route. Between the 19th and the 23rd of April the annual…
pie
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TORTA PASQUALINA, EASTER PIE FROM LIGURIA

At home we always eat this savory pie for Easter. It is, together with pesto, the most classic and recognizable dish from Genoa and was made every year by my grandmother Maria, my father's mother. As a child I thought it was wonderful…
Salmon
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EASTER SPECIAL: OVEN-BAKED SALMON WITH HONEY AND MUSTARD

This is one of my most popular recipes and a guarantee for success ;-). Try it out and enjoy the cooking, the meal and the company without any stress. Buon appetito! This is a very simple recipe I made with my experiments-in-the-kitchen…
Keukenhof Hotel Expres!
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Off to the Keukenhof? Take the Keukenhof Hotel Expres!

The keukenhof wiil be open again from 23 March until 21 May. This season, the Keukenhof is within fast and easy reach thanks to the Keukenhof Hotel Epress. This shuttle will depart at 09:15 and 12:45 daily from Novotel Amsterdam Schiphol…
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Keukenhof, the most beautiful spring garden in the world is open

Keukenhof, the best day out among the flowers! There are more than 7 million bulbs in bloom this spring, with a total of 800 varieties of tulips. A unique and unforgettable experience! Besides the spacious 32 hectares of flowers you can enjoy…
International School Haarlem
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Location International School Haarlem known

The city council of Haarlem announced the location of the new International School Haarlem (ISH) with a press release in which expatsHaarlem was included.   We can finally announce that as of September 2017 the address will be Schreveliusstraat…
Earth Hour
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Earth Hour: Uniting people to protect the planet.

Every year millions of people around the globe will switch off for Earth Hour to shine a light on the need for climate action. Haarlem city is proud to take in Earth Hour each year, where people and businesses turn off their lights for one…
Saint Patrick's Day
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Saint Patrick's Day in Haarlem

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. The Feast of Saint Patrick or Saint Patrick's Day, is a cultural and religious celebration which is held on the traditional death of the Saint; 17th…
National Tulip Day
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National Tulip Day

The start to Tulip season officially begins on Dam Square in Amsterdam.  The event is organised by Dutch tulip growers who build a unique tulip picking garden on Dam Square. Anyone can come and see the tulips and pick your very own, for…
Epiphany
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Epiphany celebrations

Many Christians around the world annually celebrate Epiphany or Three King's Day on January 6. It is a public holiday in many countries and marks two events in Jesus Christ’s life, according to the Christian Bible. The first event was when…
New Year
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Why New Year’s Eve is My Least Favourite Day of the Dutch Year

Those bangs you heard already in November? The ones that made you think for a split second that a gun battle had broken out in your Dutch neighbourhood? Those bangs are the reason I’ve always looked forward to a Dutch New Year’s Eve as…