Paint The Town Orange: Dutch Week Kicks Off Again In 2026

WELLINGTON, April 22 – Dutch communities around the country are coming together again this year to celebrate Dutch culture, heritage, and their connections in Aotearoa New Zealand. Dutch Week—from 18 April to 3 May—is packed with family-friendly events hosted by Dutch clubs and businesses across the country.

Launched in 2021, Dutch Week is an annual celebration of all things Dutch, that centres around the birthday of King Willem-Alexander on the 27th of April. It’s an opportunity to showcase Dutch languages, expertise, heritage, and food. Dutch Week offers the diaspora of over 150,000 New Zealanders of Dutch descent a space to reconnect with their heritage and community. However, it is also for anyone with a love of cycling or speculaas, as a great opportunity to engage with Dutch culture. This year, a special focus will be on heritage, raising funds to support the necessary repairs for the traditional Dutch windmolen (windmill) operating in Foxton.

Highlights of Dutch Week will include Koningsdag (King’s Day) parties hosted in Auckland, Christchurch, and Queenstown, where guests dress up in orange and enjoy Dutch food and music, as well as orange bike rides hosted by Dutch clubs all over the country, a chance to celebrate cycling with family and friends.

“It’s great to see that also Dutch Week this year is bringing people together all across New Zealand,” said H.E. Ard MM van der Vorst, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to New Zealand. “Whether you have Dutch roots or just enjoy good food there’s something for everyone. But it’s also a moment to recognise that there is so much more to the Dutch–New Zealand connection, from business and innovation to agriculture and community life, and the many ways the Dutch migration has contributed to New Zealand’s success.”

For a full schedule of events and locations, please visit www.netherlandsandyou.nl/web/new-zealand/dutch-week, or follow the Netherlands Embassy New Zealand Facebook page.

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