Culture Guide (November 2026)

This article contains some sponsored items

CINEMA & FILM

Editor’s Pick: IDFA

Amsterdam’s much-anticipated International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam returns with another world-beating documentary selection. Expect films tackling life, love, politics and society, along with a trend-setting programme of talks, performances, and interactive and immersive projects. Screenings will take place at cinemas around the city, including at the festival's striking permanent location dedicated to all things non-fiction: the monumental Vondelpark Pavilion. 

Unsure where to begin? These are our 10 picks for what to watch at IDFA 2026. 

• IDFA | 12-22 November 2026 | various cinemas

Imagine Film Festival

For the best in fantasy, horror and science fiction, the Imagine Film Festival challenges viewers to question the future of humankind and society. Along with screenings, workshops, masterclasses and games, prescient themes such as disaster scenarios from eco-horror and Cli-Fi (climate fiction) are discussed in accessible talks which look to get audiences involved. 

• Imagine Film Festival | until 8 November 2026 | various locations

ART & EXHIBITIONS

Tutankhamun

Sponsored content by Stardust

Towering temples emerge from darkness, golden treasures gleam in the light and ancient Egypt unfolds around you. This winter, Tutankhamuntakes you on a spectacular journey to over 3,400 years ago. Combining archaeology, storytelling and innovative technology, this 360-degree exhibition in the hallowed halls of the Olympic Stadium, offers an immersive experience for curious minds of all ages, revealing the riches of Tutankhamun’s world and the mysteries surrounding his life and death, but also the beliefs and rituals that shaped an extraordinary civilisation. 

• Tutankhamun | until 28 February | Olympic Stadium

Amsterdam Art Week

For one week in November, the city turns into a contemporary art festival during Amsterdam Art Week, when galleries, museums, and project spaces open their doors for tours, symposiums, and artist talks. There's a number of events wherever you go, at some of the city's top galleries – check the site for the full program and bring your artistic eye.

• Amsterdam Art Week | 18-22 November | City-wide

Masterpiece Amsterdam

Sponsored content by Stadsarchief 

Stadsarchief’s newest exhibition brings together seventeenth-century cityscapes that trace Amsterdam's transformation from a trading port into a major European city. Paintings of the newly built canal belt, the Town Hall on Dam Square, bustling markets and the busy waterfront on the IJ reveal both the city’s rapid expansion and everyday urban life. The exhibition also explores how artists shaped Amsterdam’s image and how these historic views continue to influence perceptions of the city today. 

• Masterpiece Amsterdam | 6 November - 7 March 2027 | Stadsarchief 

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Prince Claus Fund Awards Week

Sponsored content by Prins Claus Fund

What does it mean to be part of a community? And what does it take to sustain one? These are the questions central to the Prince Claus Fund Awards Week, where talks, performances, stories, workshops come together across Amsterdam. The tagline this year is ‘Culture is community. Community is practice’, meaning this week will focus primarily on the power of the communities in which artists work. For example, world-renowned Dutch book designer Irma Boom is organising a session on bookmaking, where you can get hands-on. At Paradiso, the focus is on the significance of archives: who decides which stories are passed on? Elsewhere, check out the Impact Symposium at the Stedelijk Museum, where artists and cultural practitioners from the Netherlands and abroad come together for discussions and exchanges.

• Prince Claus Awards Week | 23- 28 November | City-wide

Sint Maarten

In Amsterdam, Halloween has become increasingly popular over the past few years. More children dress up in spooky costumes, decorate their homes, and go trick-or-treat-ing. But at the same time, the Netherlands has its own long-standing tradition: Sint Maarten, celebrated on 11 November. On this evening, kids walk through their neighbourhoods carrying handmade lanterns and singing songs at people’s doors. In return, they receive sweets or small treats. In the Indische buurt in Oost this evening is particularly wonderful: the neighbourhood hosts Super Sint Maarten, a parade goes through the streets with enormous illuminated lanterns, puppets, music, and people in costumes. It’s a sight to be sure, adding extra warmth and light to this already special night.  

• Super Sint Maarten | 11 November | Oost

BOOKS & STORYTELLING

Amsterdam Storytelling Festival

Acclaimed storytellers light up the autumn nights at the spectacular Podium Mozaïek, a theatre in a former Bos en Lommer church. In this five-day festival, expect pacey plots, touching tales and real-life accounts from around the world as master storytellers demonstrate the art form of spoken word. Along with the shows, there are also talks, workshops, a masterclass, live music and a midnight saloon.

• Amsterdam Storytelling Festival | 6-15 November | Podium Mozaiek

THEATRE & MUSICALS

Matthew Bourne's The Car Man

Sponsored content by Carré

Matthew Bourne brings award-winning The Car Man to Carré: a dance production based on Bizet’s opera Carmen in which the cigarette factory is swapped for a greasy 1950’s garage-diner where the arrival of an enigmatic stranger sends the small town into upheaval. The familiar opera score is enmeshed with music by Terry Davies to a striking effect. Expect grit, mature themes and tension aplenty in this captivating dance thriller.  

• The Car Man | 25-29 November | Carré

DANCE & OPERA

Opium Flower

How do you rediscover your own voice when straddling two opposite cultures? Opium Flower explores this through the story of three women who travel to the Netherlands from Asia. The intercultural dance production draws from Chinese philosophy and Western dance to create a touchingly poetic one-hour performance that leaves a lasting impact. The story focuses on women facing language barriers, societal expectations and cultural divides. Through dance, live music and performance, the symbolism of the poppy flower’s resilience shines through. 

• Opium Flower | 28 November | Plein Theatre

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