Light up Rotterdam

Rotterdam is still alive

Riva mainly houses expats and international students. They reside temporarily in Rotterdam and rent the houses we offer on behalf of several owners. As a rental agency we offer our clients information about hot spots and things to do in our beloved city, so they will feel right at home. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 we can't provide expats with that kind of information right now. Although a lot of the spots we have suggested in the past still operate, offering takeaway or delivery like Bar Berta, Tiwya, Café @Home and Walsjerot. 

So go support all those locals. Order dinner of a box. A lot of restaurants offer them and you can pick them up yourself. It's the perfect excuse to get out the house. Combine your trip to your favorite restaurants with a stroll in the city. Rotterdam has ensured that there is something to see! The municipality of Rotterdam assigned Mothership, developer of art projects in public space, to come up with something that can help people in corona time.  

Rotterdam Light

The result is Rotterdam Light. From now until February 2021 there will be special light shows at various places in the city.

From the top of the Laurenskerk you can see four beams of light move 360 degrees around the tower.

The side of the old post office on the Meent is lit from the inside: colored lamps alternate and shine through the windows of the historic building Post Rotterdam. The landmark will soon be developed by Omnam Group. They will fill the monument with a 5-star Kimpton Hotel, residential units and an extensive range of F&B outlets, retail and lifestyle outlets.

On the south side the Santos building gets the spotlight! As soon as dusk sets in, special lighting is used to create a festive atmosphere. The lighting is on until 11 pm. The landmark will serve as a projection screen for art artworks, curated by HIJS in collaboration with POW! WOW! Rotterdam, Rauwkost Collective and Frame Vastgoed.

Various squares, such as Heemraadsplein, Noordplein and Alexanderplein, are also part of #RotterdamVerlicht. Sober Collective provides artworks at Heemraadsplein for example.

In Rotterdam, a number of works of art and buildings are already illuminated with special lighting and poetry emerges in the dark. The Municipality of Rotterdam and CBK Rotterdam have together drawn up a road map that takes you along these nocturnal highlights in the city. This map, Light Route Rotterdam, is available for free at the Rotterdam Tourist Information on the Coolsingel and at Central Station. In addition to the Dutch version, an English version of the map is also available.

Nocturnal Rotterdam.

New Year's Eve

Because the fireworks shows in Rotterdam are canceled this year, Rotterdam Light! will provide an alternative New Year's show. It is based on the spectacle with drones of May fifth: Liberation Day in the Netherlands. In the evening the artwork Franchise Freedom flew over the Maas in Rotterdam to celebrate our freedom. At the initiative of the artist duo DRIFT and art organization Mothership, an impressive swarm of 300 luminous drones used the skies as a canvas, a flying ode to freedom while at the same time paying tribute to those who work day and night for the freedom and safety of others. Franchise Freedom flew out to endorse the importance of two important tenets of humanity: health and freedom.

The new show will be comparable and the recordings will be made coming weeks, without an audience. It will later be announced where the images were broadcast during the New Year.

Recurring festival

Riva thinks this festival is a great initiative. In these difficult times, the event is intended to let everyone experience how beautiful the winter time in Rotterdam is. Moreover, it is a call to illuminate the city and its inhabitants and to connect them with each other. To keep courage and to remain hopeful. 

The festival will be an annual event that will put the city in a winter mood.

Cover: Ossip van Duivenbode