Happy New Year, Dutch Style

Welcome to the first installment of 2026!

We had a great trip to California (and Phoenix and Vegas) and found ourselves back in the Netherlands for New Year’s. You may recall that last year we were in India (for a reminder of our very amusing vow renewal, click here), so this year marked our first New Year’s in the Netherlands. And… whew…were we unprepared.

Our first hint that things might be different came courtesy of our next-door neighbor. When we ran into her she casually asked if we were coming to the neighborhood festivities on New Year’s Eve.

“No,” I said confidently. “We’re too jet-lagged. We’ll be sleeping.” When she gave me the side-eye and replied, “I don’t think that will be possible,” I really should have listened.

The next hint arrived on the 30th. That same neighbor lit a firework fountain around 2pm. A few firecrackers and rockets popped off sporadically throughout the day. Apparently, December 30th is the designated Dutch holiday known as "be sure to get warmed up for what’s coming on the 31st."

By 2pm on New Year’s Eve, things were officially underway. About every five minutes: boom, pop, whizz. It gets dark here around 4:30, and once night fell, the pace picked up considerably. The rockets seemed to be detonating directly over our house, possibly on purpose. Alex went to bed at 8 and had some trouble falling asleep due to the noise. After closing several doors and essentially building him a soundproof cocoon, he finally drifted off.

Mike and I went to bed around 10pm, and by then there was a constant tattoo of noise and light.

And then… midnight.

I was still asleep, but Mike happened to be awake and later told me it was as if the world exploded at 12:00 and zero seconds. At any given moment there must have been 100 firecrackers and rockets going off simultaneously. The noise was impressive enough that I was awake by 12:05.

Our bedroom is on the third floor (second floor for those of you who count the entry level as floor 0, like civilized Europeans), and two of our walls, south and east, are just windows. We opened the curtains and were treated to a fireworks display well beyond anything we’ve ever seen in the U.S. Rockets were firing in every direction. And these were all amateurs, no professionally coordinated displays, just sheer collective enthusiasm.

The view from our bed at 12:25am

What made it even more astonishing was that this continued for over an hour.

For context, here’s a video Mike took at 12:17.  Note that it definitely hadn’t slowed down by then.

Even more astonishing: a launcher with ~20 rockets costs about €20 (~$23). Between midnight and 12:30am, our guess is at least 100,000 of these fired off within a 3 mile radius of our home, and well over 1,000,000 throughout the entire night. A single neighbor of ours bought cases of these launchers to set alight throughout the celebration… and I don’t think he was too rare an exception.  At 1M of these and €1 each, that’s a lot of money spent by our Dutch neighbors!

In the U.S., most Fourth of July fireworks shows last 15–20 minutes. The Macy’s display in New York might stretch to 30–35 minutes. When I finally fell back asleep at 1:15, fireworks were still going, constantly. When I woke up at 6:15, a few die-hards continued to make sure everyone knew it was a brand-new year.

Since then, I’ve asked a couple of Dutch friends who moved to the U.S. what they thought of our Fourth of July displays, and both said they were wholly disappointed. Apparently, by Dutch standards, our celebrations are…quaint.

Last night we talked with some Dutch friends about the whole phenomenon. They said fireworks have been ramping up over the past few years, and this year was the most intense yet. Part of that may be because the country has banned consumer fireworks starting next year due to ongoing New Year’s issues.

Unfortunately, those issues are serious. In recent years, some people have aimed fireworks at emergency responders; sometimes even when responders weren’t there specifically for fireworks-related issues. This year, at least two people died. A friend mentioned knowing an eye doctor who dreads this holiday because of the number of children treated for eye injuries. Despite the generally wet conditions here, fires are common, including a major church in Amsterdam burning down this year, possibly due to fireworks.

We asked whether people thought the ban would actually stop fireworks next year. The consensus: things might be slightly more muted, but most people will likely still participate.  It’s the one night of the year the Dutch lose most of what makes them Dutch.  Thank goodness things go back to normal on January 2.

We’ll be in Antarctica next Christmas, so we probably won’t be here to report on how that goes, but we can check back in 2027.

Wishing you all lots of peace, love, and joy in 2026! 🎆✨