With 90,000 visitors, North Sea Jazz is one of the very biggest indoor jazz festivals in the world. It puts Rotterdam on the global map as a vibrant city of music, and carries real economic and international value too. Visitors from all over the world discover a lively music city where you also come to enjoy terraces, hotspots and iconic attractions.
The second weekend of July belongs to the NN North Sea Jazz Festival. For three days, some 1,300 musicians take over more than fifteen stages at Rotterdam Ahoy. Beats, brass and vocals get the crowd moving, and you’ll wish you had extra eyes and ears at this legendary, high-calibre celebration of music.
A Mix of Music Genres
What makes North Sea Jazz unique is its mix of genres. Alongside jazz, music lovers can go wild for blues, soul, funk, hip hop, world and pop. Greats such as Herbie Hancock, Prince, Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King and Alicia Keys have all played North Sea Jazz.
But the festival is at least as proud of the artists who experienced their European breakthrough here. For decades, North Sea Jazz has given new talent a stage.
That combination of legends and new talent means the festival reinvents itself every year, without forgetting its roots.
Festival debut Adele
Artists who would later make a name for themselves, such as Roy Hargrove, Jacob Collier, Ibrahim Maalouf, Gregory Porter and Amy Winehouse, made their festival debut at North Sea Jazz, kicking off their careers in one of the festival’s many smaller halls.
For Adele, too, North Sea Jazz was her festival debut, and one of only two festival performances of her entire career. That combination of legends and new talent means the festival reinvents itself every year, without forgetting its roots.
Fifty Years of North Sea Jazz
In 2026, North Sea Jazz turns fifty. Half a century in which the festival shows how jazz keeps evolving. From spiritual and political jazz to free improvisation, from fusion to neo-soul, it all comes together in the anniversary programme.
In this anniversary year, you can see 50 Years of North Sea Jazz Photography at Kunsthal Rotterdam. It takes you behind the scenes and through photos of iconic performances.
In 2026, North Sea Jazz is once again teaming up with the Dunya Festival, where you can enjoy music, dance, stories and food from every corner of the world. In Rotterdam’s Zuiderpark, British jazz musician Theon Cross and drummer Kick Woudstra perform with the Rotterdam Brass Band School. And they, in turn, take the stage at North Sea Jazz.
North Sea Jazz received the Rotterdam Promotion Prize, recognition for those who truly put the city on the map as a cultural destination.
Economic Engine
North Sea Jazz is one of those festivals that hugely strengthens Rotterdam’s international appeal as a cultural destination. And it is an economic engine for the city, too. Hotels, Airbnbs and restaurants far and wide are fully booked during the festival.
Plenty of visitors stay for several days, which is great news for local businesses and transport providers. A Social Cost-Benefit Analysis shows that the festival delivers a long-term value of tens of millions of euros to the city.
Rotterdam Promotion Prize
Not for nothing did North Sea Jazz receive the Rotterdam Promotion Prize in 2024, recognition for those who truly put the city on the map as a cultural destination. The prize is awarded by Club 25, a network of Rotterdammers with a heart for the city who want to help promote Rotterdam and shape how the city is perceived.
North Sea Round Town
Think the jazz in the city stops after three days of North Sea Jazz? Think again. North Sea Round Town is the annual festival that surrounds North Sea Jazz. For two and a half weeks, music fills the city. From the opening at the Laurenskerk to live music in the metro, on the streets, by the sea and in every corner of Rotterdam.
With (free) concerts on squares, in churches, on rooftops and in Rotterdam neighbourhoods, it brings jazz straight to the people who live here. It energises the local music scene and gives emerging Rotterdam talent a stage. With more than 375 concerts at over 175 locations, there is always something to catch your ear.
Jazzhaven
During North Sea Round Town, Jazzhaven sends you along a musical route by the water in picturesque, historic Delfshaven, from indoor venue to terrace. And on the Meent, you hop from place to place, with live acts on terraces, in boutiques and in shops.
And don’t forget the neighbourhood concerts. Take the special XL edition at Humanitas Bergweg, a residential care complex in the Oude Noorden district. With live music and dance, you could listen, sing along or move. Because even when your feet can no longer dance, music can still move you.
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