Zaanse Schans Events 2026
The Zaanse Schans runs a small, real calendar: a folklore day that has run for fifty-five editions, a freedom festival with a battle behind it, children sailing between the mills, and a museum programme with published dates. Everything below comes from the foundation’s own calendar and the Zaans Museum’s own listings.
What is on next at the Zaanse Schans
Open Monument Days — inside the Noorderhuis
12–13 September 2026, 10:00–16:00
The Noorderhuis at Kalverringdijk 17 is one of the most stately listed buildings on the site and it is normally closed, with restoration work under way. For these two days it opens, and Pieter Gravestijn and Pier Dye tell its story inside it.
This is the one weekend of the year you can see it. The film Wooden Dreams: the story of the Zaanse Schans is screened in the house, and the guides talk through the Zaan timber construction and what it takes to keep a monument like this standing.
IFIKX maak-mee festival
10–16 October 2026
A week of hands-on making run by De Zaansche Molen, the Zaan mill association that maintains several of the working mills here.
If you want to see the mills as machinery rather than as scenery, this is the week for it.
Closer to the Times
6 November 2026
An evening at Museum Zaanse Tijd in which poets read odes written to their favourite clock.
Exactly as odd and as charming as it sounds, and a reminder that the clock museum is a working institution rather than a display case.
The annual fixtures, and when they fall
- Pinksterzaan — Whit Monday. A freedom festival with a real historical root: in 1574 the Zaankanters defeated the Spanish on Whit Monday, and marked it with a holiday called Pinksterdrie. The foundation revived it in 2013. Stalls of local produce, traditional crafts, live performances, children’s workshops and street theatre, on the ground where the Kalver-Schans stood.
- National Mill Day — 9 May. Run by De Zaansche Molen. Mills that are usually shut open their doors.
- Optimist on Tour — June. The Watersportverbond’s national programme brings children to sail Optimist dinghies on the Zaan, in front of the mills, with games and lessons on water safety.
- Folklore Day — 15 August. The fifty-fifth edition ran in 2026. Regional costume, folk music and dance, lace-making, batik and woodcarving demonstrations, a craft market, and the fire brigade’s annual display from its own museum, which opens specially for the day.
- Pre-run Dam tot Damloop — last Friday in August. A thousand runners set off from the Kalverringdijk on an evening route past the mills and the Enge Wormer, over 5.6 km and 11.3 km, a week before the main Dam tot Damloop.
Exhibitions running now
Dated exhibitions at the Zaanse Schans museums
| Where | Exhibition | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Zaans Museum | Dreams in Wood. The Story of the Zaanse Schans | 6 June 2026 – 6 September 2027 |
| Zaans Museum | Cherished: preserved works by Nelly and Tine Honig | 30 May – 11 October 2026 |
| Verkade Experience | Chocolate Experience | Daily, 10:00–17:00 |
| World of Windmills Museum | The Calf and the Water Wolf | Running |
| Museum Zaanse Tijd | Highlights: 50 Years of Museum Zaanse Tijd | Running |
All of these are covered by the Ticket Zaanse Schans; the admission page has what else it buys.
What has just finished
Recently finished at the Zaanse Schans
| Ended | What it was |
|---|---|
| 28 August 2026 | Pre-run Dam tot Damloop — a thousand runners from the Kalverringdijk |
| 15 August 2026 | Folklore Day, 55th edition |
| 17–20 June 2026 | Optimist on Tour — children sailing between the mills |
| 6 June 2026 | Sari Walkathon, with the Noorderhuis opened specially |
| 25 May 2026 | Pinksterzaan |
| 17 May 2026 | Greetings from the Spaghetti Flat, Zaans Museum |
| 3 May 2026 | Polders: the land in your hands, Zaans Museum |
Most of these come round annually, so a date that has passed is usually next year’s date too.
A quick-reference calendar
The Zaanse Schans events calendar
| Month | What is on |
|---|---|
| May | National Mill Day (9th) · Pinksterzaan (Whit Monday) |
| June | Optimist on Tour · De Zoeker opens on Saturdays |
| July | De Zoeker open on Saturdays. Peak season, no fixed events |
| August | Folklore Day (15th) · Pre-run Dam tot Damloop (last Friday) |
| September | Open Monument Days (12–13) |
| October | IFIKX maak-mee festival (10–16) |
| November | Closer to the Times, Museum Zaanse Tijd (6th) |
| December–April | No fixed events. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day run reduced hours |
Zaanse Schans day tour run every day of the year, event or not. Zaanse Schans Tours sets them side by side, and the calendar page works out which of these days to seek and which to avoid.
Where to check before you travel
- Stichting de Zaanse Schans — the official events calendar
- Stichting de Zaanse Schans — what is open today
- Zaans Museum — its own exhibition programme
- Stichting de Zaanse Schans — visitor FAQ and prices
Dates and prices move. Check the official pages before you travel.