Wereld Haven Dagen: Rotterdam World Harbour Days Festival

The Wereld Haven Dagen is a maritime festival during September celebrated the city of Rotterdam. This is a yearly event free to the public. You can experience for yourself many ships, live shows and activities.  

Wereld Haven Dagen Things To Do

During this weekend event you can visit many open boats and ships along the waters edge. Military ships, container and storage ships, local police boats, border security ships and so on. With the lovely weather this year, there was a bit of a waiting line for many. Worth the wait though, as this is a lovely opportunity to get out with the family and enjoy something new.

Along the waters edge you can also grab a bite to eat or drink and enjoy live music performances. From here you can join in with activities too, like taking part in some training with the Dutch Mariniers. There are also more than 100 stands of participants you can get more information and learn more about. But definitely fun activities for the kids!

Furthermore you can watch live shows from the waters edge too. Throughout the weekend you can watch shows such as the Dutch Mariniers via military helicopter rescuing someone from a pirate ship below. Or various harbour boats showing off what they can do with their equipment.

Every year you can also book excursions on some special boats and extra events. For 2018 there were more than 40 excursions to choose from. Some of the top ones were to visit the Maastunnel behind the scenes, private tour of a container terminal area at night and a special tour the river by speedboat. Another excursion for 2018 was a helicopter tour. This excursion would fly you for 8 minutes over the Rotterdam harbour, or 16 minutes over the River Maas to the Erasmusbrug and back. Something we just had to book!

Helicopter Excursion

We decided to book this helicopter excursion for the 16 minutes flight to fly above the festival and back. We were not so lucky with the sunshine, but it was clear and that all that mattered for a great view.

My partner was placed in the front of the helicopter, as they decide where you sit based on your weight. So he had the camera and credits go to him for our photos.

The views from the helicopter were AMAZING! You can check out our full photoblog here!

Wereld Haven Dagen Fireworks

Every year there is always a firework show too, which are presented from a ship close to the Erasmusbrug. This show is on the Saturday night. We watched from home in the warm with family, but have heard that it was absolutely packed with views around the harbour. So if you are visiting and it’s good weather, arrive on time.

Read more of our Rotterdam posts! 

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Rotterdam in Winter

Rotterdam in Summer

Where To Stay In Rotterdam

The Famous Cubic Houses

Rotterdam Museum ’40-’45 NU

Rotterdam Open Monument Day

Rotterdam Rooftop Days

Summary Wereld Haven Dagen

We loved walking around along the river Maas and seeing what ships you can visit during the day. It was recorded that 380,000 people visited during the weekend for 2018 which is fantastic!

If you ever have a chance to visit Rotterdam during the festival weekend, you should definitely check it out!

Tips:

• Take some water with you to drink as there’s always lots to visit
• Stay for the fireworks on Saturday, find a good spot on the Erasmusbrug or along the water edge
• Bring the whole family – theres plenty of things to see and do with kids!

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Have you visited the Wereld Haven Dagen festival in Rotterdam before? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!