Van Gogh Museum celebrates 50th birthday with free sunflower festival

The Van Gogh Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary on Friday. The museum celebrates with the free Sunflower Art Festival on the Museumplein and a special edition of Vincent on Friday, the event that the museum organizes every last Friday of the month. Princess Beatrix will attend the celebration during the day.

Visitors can participate in various activities on the square between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. There will be a workshop where participants can make their own version of Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting, The Sunflowers, on a postcard. Visitors can also have their own T-shirt or linen bag printed on the square or have their bicycles decorated with flowers. The museum, which holds the most extensive collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) in the world, will distribute tens of thousands of sunflowers on the square. There will also be acrobatic stunts and a parade of street theater acts, and the Wijktalentorkest - the neighborhood talent orchestra - from Amsterdam Nieuw-West will perform.

In the afternoon, museum director Emile Gordenker will give Princess Beatrix a sunflower and a tour of the exhibition Van Gogh in Auvers. His last months. The Van Gogh Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with three exhibitions about the artist, including this one. The princess will also talk to former directors of the museum and Van Gogh’s relatives, among others. Beatrix’s mother, Juliana, attended the opening of the museum 50 years ago.

Vincent on Friday: 50 Years of the Van Gogh Museum will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Attendees must buy a ticket for the show. The program includes performances by Nnelg and ISH Dance Collective, among others, a panel discussion with former employees, and a film program.

The day ends with a drone show. It will start at 11:00 p.m. on the Museumplein.