Christmas Lights in Amsterdam 2026

The Amsterdam Light Festival returns for its 15th edition from Thursday 26 November 2026 to Sunday 17 January 2027. Its 20 artworks by Dutch and international artists stand above, alongside and in the water of the city-centre canals on a new route, and this year there is no overarching theme, so each artist picks a subject. The festival has teased an impossible waterfall, gossiping robots, neon fever dreams and turbulent iridescent soap; the full list of 2026 artworks and their locations has not been published yet.

The lights are on every day from 16:30 to 23:00, and until 21:00 on 31 December. The artworks stand in public space and need no ticket: they can be seen at any time while they are lit, in any order. The walking route is about 4.5 km, around 1.5 hours on foot, and the festival suggests starting at Amstel 1 on Waterlooplein. Its exact map is part of the Light Walk sold in the festival app from 24 November, and a small number of printed maps are kept at the information points inside Amstel 1 and near Central Station.

From the water, a cruise along the route takes about 75 minutes, with departures every 30 minutes between 16:30 and 21:30 and an audio guide in Dutch, English and German. Light Nights on 26 November, 12 December and 19 December 2026 add pop-up performances, storytellers at the artworks, workshops and talks.

The route crosses the historic centre, with uneven pavements and steep bridges, and the nearest public transport stops are Amsterdam Centraal and Waterlooplein.

Photo (Amsterdam Light Festival, January 2020): Light art on the Scheepvaartmuseum by Alf van Beem (public domain)

Amsterdam's Christmas tree stands on Dam Square, opposite the Royal Palace, and the City of Amsterdam has granted the permit for its 2026 lighting. The lights go on at a public event on Thursday 10 December 2026, from 17:30 to 19:30, with a speech by the mayor or the chair of the Centrum district, hot chocolate and music from groups including Brassband Ritmo and the Gospel Queens.

The facade of De Bijenkorf, the department store on Dam Square, forms the backdrop for the lit tree. Every year the store covers it with hundreds of thousands of LED lights to mark the start of the festive season; its 2026 switch-on date has not been announced yet.

In 2025 the tree was lit on Tuesday 16 December, also from 17:30 to 19:30. Dam Square sits in the middle of the old centre: the Nine Streets start just behind the Royal Palace, and the Light Festival's suggested starting point at Amstel 1 is 0.7 km to the south-east.

Photo (December 2018): Christmas lights on Dam Square in front of the Royal Palace by Rudolphous (CC BY-SA 4.0)

De Lumineuze Nachten, the Luminous Nights, is an evening walk through the illuminated park of Kasteel de Haar in Haarzuilens, 28.7 km south of Dam Square, from 4 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. The walk is about 2.2 km and takes 60 to 90 minutes. At its heart is video mapping on the castle, described by the organiser as the largest in the Netherlands, set to a symphonic soundtrack and telling a new story every year.

The event has been held every winter since 2022, and the 2025-26 edition drew more than 80,000 visitors. It is ticketed. A shuttle bus links Vleuten railway station with the castle, and the Dutch railways sell a combined ticket that covers the train, the shuttle and entry.

The photo shows the castle by day; the light walk takes place after dark, and the castle sits off the edge of the map below, marked with an arrow and its distance.

Photo (June 2014): Kasteel de Haar by Rafa.rivero (CC BY-SA 4.0)