HAPPENING 1 July 2026 | Rotterdam will mark Keti Koti with a citywide programme of remembrance, reflection and celebration. The main Keti Koti Bevrijding Festival takes place on Wednesday 1 July 2026, with activities at Wijkpark Oude Westen, Schouwburgplein and De Doelen.
Keti Koti in Rotterdam
Keti Koti is the annual commemoration and celebration of the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the former Dutch Caribbean colonies. In Rotterdam, the day carries extra weight. The city’s colonial and slavery past is still visible in its history, its harbour, its streets and its people.
In 2026, Keti Koti marks 163 years since the legal abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean on 1 July 1863. It also marks 153 years since 1873, when the system of state supervision ended for many formerly enslaved people in Suriname. That distinction matters: slavery was abolished by law in 1863, but for many people freedom was delayed by another decade.
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Keti Koti Festival Rotterdam 2026
Keti Koti Festival Rotterdam runs from 24 June to 1 July 2026. The programme brings together remembrance, culture, education, food, music and community gatherings across the city.
The main festival day is Wednesday 1 July 2026. Rotterdam’s celebrations will take place at three main locations: Wijkpark Oude Westen, Schouwburgplein and De Doelen. Expect music, performances, conversations, food, workshops and space to meet, remember and celebrate together. Admission to the main festival is free and open to all ages.
Bigi Spikri and Wijkpark Oude Westen
Wijkpark Oude Westen remains one of the key gathering places for Keti Koti in Rotterdam. The programme includes cultural activities, performances and community events. The Bigi Spikri procession is one of the most recognisable parts of Keti Koti, with participants often dressed in bright, formal and traditional clothing.
Bigi Spikri means “big mirror” in Sranantongo. The tradition refers to 1 July 1863 in Paramaribo, when formerly enslaved people went into the city in their finest clothes and used shop windows as mirrors. In Rotterdam, the procession keeps that memory alive as a proud public celebration of freedom, dignity and visibility.
De Doelen: children at the centre
At De Doelen, the 2026 Keti Koti celebration takes place on Wednesday 1 July from 14:00 to 19:00. This year’s programme puts children at the heart of the day.
Activities include workshops, market stalls, traditional children’s clothing, children’s books, music and creative sessions. Children can take part in Awassa dance, Capoeira, crafts and storytelling. The programme is organised by Stichting Gedeeld Verleden, Gezamenlijke Toekomst in collaboration with De Doelen Rotterdam.
Schouwburgplein and the city centre
Schouwburgplein will again be part of the citywide festival on 1 July. The square is expected to host a lively public programme with music, performances and space for people to gather in the centre of Rotterdam.
Together with Wijkpark Oude Westen and De Doelen, Schouwburgplein gives the day a citywide character: reflective in tone, festive in spirit, and rooted in Rotterdam’s many communities.
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Keti Koti activities in Rotterdam in 2026
Wednesday 24 June 2026: The Keti Koti Lecture takes place in Rotterdam City Hall. This year’s lecture is given by Guno Jones, professor at the Anton de Kom Chair for the history of colonialism and slavery and their contemporary social, cultural and legal impact.
Friday 26 June 2026: Theater Rotterdam opens its Keti Koti programme with Peper & Zuur?! by Howard Komproe and Noni Kooiman, a culinary performance about Suriname, colonial history, food and memory.
Saturday 27 June 2026: Theater Rotterdam hosts a day programme at TR8 on William Boothlaan, including children’s activities, Awassa dance workshops, talks, Dresi fu yeye and a Keti Koti Block Party. The same day, the annual Keti Koti church service forms part of the wider city programme.
Monday 30 June 2026: Rotterdam pauses for the official commemoration of the victims of slavery. The remembrance takes place the evening before the liberation festival.
Wednesday 1 July 2026: The Keti Koti Bevrijding Festival fills the city with remembrance, music, culture, food, meetings and celebration at Wijkpark Oude Westen, Schouwburgplein and De Doelen.
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What is Keti Koti?
Keti Koti means “broken chains” or “the chains are broken” in Sranantongo, a language spoken in Suriname. The day commemorates the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the former Dutch Caribbean colonies.
On 1 July 1863, slavery was legally abolished in Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean. In Suriname, however, many formerly enslaved people were forced to keep working on plantations for another ten years under state supervision. That is why 1873 is often named as the year when slavery truly ended for many people in Suriname.
Today, Keti Koti is both a commemoration and a celebration. On 30 June, communities remember the victims of slavery and reflect on its continuing impact. On 1 July, the focus turns to freedom, culture, resilience and togetherness.
Keti Koti Rotterdam - celebrating the end of Dutch slavery
Rotterdam and the slavery past
Rotterdam’s relationship with the colonial and slavery past is not distant history. The city was connected to colonial trade, shipping, finance and plantation economies. In 2021, Rotterdam’s municipal executive offered apologies for the role of its predecessors in the city’s colonial and slavery history.
Keti Koti therefore belongs in Rotterdam not only as a cultural festival, but also as a moment of civic memory. It asks the city to look honestly at the past, and to think about what freedom, equality and justice mean now.
Modern slavery today
Keti Koti also speaks to the present. According to the Global Slavery Index, an estimated 50 million people worldwide were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021. That includes forced labour, forced marriage and other forms of exploitation.
Remembering the past does not mean leaving it behind. It means seeing how systems of exploitation continue, and asking what freedom should look like in our own time.
Location: Wijkpark Oude Westen
