Market · Alkmaar
Alkmaar Cheese Market
Every Friday morning from spring to autumn, porters haul cheeses across the Waagplein while traders bargain and the crowd looks on. Come for the 10:00 bell and stay until it ends at 13:00.
- When
- 26 Mar – 24 Sep 2027, 10:00
- Where
- Waagplein
- Official site
- www.kaasmarkt.nl
Dates checked 1 November 2026. Confirm with the organiser before you book.
Alkmaar's cheese market is a weekly show, and it's one of the easiest Dutch traditions to catch: it happens every Friday morning for six months of the year on the Waagplein, beside the Waag, the weigh house.
The bell rings at 10:00 and trading opens. Then the action starts. Carriers bring the cheeses on and off the square on wooden barrows, each holding up to eight cheeses of about 13 kilos. The cheeses go to the Waag to be weighed, traders haggle over the price, and loaders pitch the wheels onto carts to be taken away. Young guides, known as cheese girls and boys, walk the crowd and answer questions about the town. It all wraps up at 13:00.
In 2027 the first market is on Friday 26 March, and the organiser's rule of last Friday in March to last Friday in September makes 24 September the final one. Summer visitors get a second chance: in July and August there are also evening markets on Tuesdays from 19:00 to 21:00.