Utrecht celebrates its 900th anniversary with Kensington performance at Dom tower tonight

Utrecht is kicking off its festivities to celebrate its 900th anniversary on Thursday with a performance by the Utrecht band Kensington and city carillonneur Malgosia Fiebig from the Dom Tower. The city has hundreds of activities planned for the coming months, RTV Utrecht reports.

Thursday kicked off with raising 900 flags in front of Utrecht city hall and the presentation of the children's book De spoken van het stadhuis en andere Utrechtse verhalen composed by Koos and Matthijs Meinderts.

Between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Utrecht rapper Duimelot will perform at Park de Watertoren, the Dorpsplein in Vleuten-De Meern, and the Tolsteegplantsoen. There will also be a lunch at the Janskerkhof with a hundred senior citizens and fifty students. At 2:45 p.m., Mayor Sharon Dijksma will go through a journey through time to 1122 in Lofen Palace, followed by a march to Het Utrechts Archief to open an exhibit.

At 4:00 p.m., over a thousand Utrecht residents whose birthday is today can go eat cake in the city center. Utrecht administrators will hand out cakes on Zadelstraat near the Mariaplaats.

From 4:30 p.m. there will be music and dance on Mariaplaats, Neude, Janskerkhof, Stathuisplein, Wed, and Stadhuisbrug. Utrecht music and dance companies will get the city ready for the main event - Malgosia Fiebig and Kensington's performance on the Dom Tower, which starts at 8:45 p.m. with the tower bells ringing. The concert will be broadcast live on large screens at Domplein, Stadhuisplein, Neude, and Janskerkhof.

Kensington guitarist Casper Starreveled called the Dom Tower performance a highlight in an already special year. "In our own city, playing on top of the iconic Dom, while it can be heard and seen all over the city. It will be an unforgettable show, with the best view ever," he said to RTV Utrecht. "We are proud to be a very small part of the 900-year-old melody of our beautiful city."

In addition to the official program, Utrecht museums aren't charging entrance today.