We hate to be the bearers of heartbreaking news, but Amsterdam’s famous ice-skating winter wonderland on Museumplein will not take place this year. The reason? Dutch bureaucracy (of course).
For the first time in many years, Amsterdam won’t see its traditional ice rink on Museumplein. To make matters worse, the square also won’t have its tent with oliebollen and Glühwein.
No walking in a winter wonderland
As it turns out, even the magic of wintertime is not immune to Dutch bureaucracy. Since 2019, IceAmsterdam’s permit needed to be reviewed.
The Municipality of Amsterdam couldn’t seem to agree on some specifics, so much so that they’ve been in discussion with IceAmsterdam for — get this — three whole years.
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Finally, the fateful day came last month when the municipality announced that IceAmsterdam may not grace us with their stunning ice rink in 2023. 😔
In IceAmsterdam’s own words, “Our discussions [with the municipality] have never provided clarity until suddenly, in September, we heard that [the ice rink] couldn’t proceed. We were astonished that it was cancelled at the last minute”.
To make the ice rink happen, IceAmsterdam would need to request a new permit. But because this news was only delivered in September, there’s no more time to get a permit for this year.
The silver lining
Because this is just a timely permit issue, there’s no reason to think that IceAmsterdam won’t put on its famous ice rink next winter.
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Until then, we’ll just have to hold on to our ice skates. In the meantime, maybe we can find a frozen canal and try not to fall through it.
Have you been to IceAmsterdam’s rink in Museumplein? Tell us your experience in the comments below!
