The Ceuvel Spring Celebration 2026
What: De Ceuvel Spring Celebration 2026
When: Saturday 18 April
Times: 11:00 – 17:00
Where: the entire Ceuvel site
Admission: free and open to everyone. No registration needed.
de ceuvel spring celebration
On 18 April the time has come: we are celebrating Spring at De Ceuvel. This seasonal celebration centres around food. Because as soon as everything starts sprouting and teeming with life again, the story behind what we eat begins too: from soil and seed to bee, plant and human. During the Spring Celebration, you will dive into that living food system through fun workshops, mini safaris, circular bites, talks, documentaries, music and theatre.
From gardening to worm hotels
During the Spring Celebration, you can get hands on and go exploring. Join a home gardening workshop in the circular greenhouse, learn how to ferment in the Maakbar and make your own worm hotel for home. Sit down for nature stories and crafts for children, or step into Circus Andersom’s Aardereisbureau: a travel agency, but the other way around, inviting you to land instead of depart.
Taste, watch and discover
At the Ceuvel square you will find a mini market with inspiring makers and initiatives, from Voedselcirkel to local products and Reclaim the Seeds. Inside, you can watch short films, listen to Wouter Engelbart’s inspirational talk Feed Our Food! and see the documentary Land for Life. There is also photo art by Hermen van de Waal, tasty music by Ian, and you can end the day with circular bites by chef Rhea and a musical jam by Han Here and Now.
Programme
- 11:00 – 11:45 & 14:00 – 14:45Home gardening workshop for everyone
- 11:00 – 12:00 | drop inNature stories and crafts for little ones
- 11:00 – 13:00 | drop inTasty music: Ian with his troubadour cart
- 11:30 – 14:00 | drop inWorkshop: Learn Fermentation
- 11:30 – 17:00 | drop inAardereisbureau
- 11:30 – 17:00 | ongoingMini market with inspiring makers and initiatives
- 12:00 Festive opening
- 12:00 – 17:00
Photo artwork “veggie lovers” by Hermen van de Waal - 12:00
Get creative with willow - 12:30 & 15:30 | ±60 minMini safari: Foraging edible plants
- 12:45 – 16:00
Onderstroom programme:- 12:45-13:30 / 14:30-15:00 edible shorts – short films, drop in
- 13:30-14:30 Wouter Engelbart – Feed Our Food! (inspirational talk)
- 15:00-16:00 Documentary ‘Land for Life’ – by Rik van der Linden
- 14:15 – 16:15 | drop inWorkshop: Make your own worm hotel
- 15:30 | ±50 minMini safari: Foraging medicinal plants
- 16:15 – 17:00 Closing together: circular bites and music
Programme parts
Home gardening workshop for everyone
at 11:00 & 14:00 | approx. 45 minutes | in the Circular Greenhouse | language: English
You too can start growing plants. No garden? No problem. This workshop is for everyone: whether you have a windowsill, a balcony or a garden. You will go home with basic knowledge, tips and tricks. That way, regardless of the space available in your Amsterdam home, you can enjoy growing plants for yourself and your family.
The workshop is led by Andrei, who has 10+ years of experience in innovative gardening. He will take you into the greenhouse at De Ceuvel, where you will see different gardening techniques you can start using yourself.
Nature stories and crafts for little ones
11:00 – 12:00 | Ceuvel square | language: Dutch and English
Annette sows stories. Children can join, listen along or make something themselves.
Tasty music: Ian with his troubadour cart
11:00 – 13:00 | Ceuvel gate | language: Dutch and English
Feasting on making music and making music to feast on with Troubadour Ian Merkoulov. Today we set the tone for the day! All ages, tastes, scents and colours are welcome!
Festive opening!
12:00 | Ceuvel square | language: Dutch and English
Workshop: Learn Fermentation
11:30 – 14:00 | drop in | language: Dutch and English
Get hands on and learn the art of fermentation. Guided by Rhea from Food, Art en Culture, you will learn how to turn food leftovers into delicious fermented products. If possible, bring your own glass jar.
Aardereisbureau
11:30 – 17:00 | Ceuvel square | language: Dutch and English
The Aardereisburo by Circus Andersom is exactly what the name promises: a travel agency, but the other way around. No tickets, no airplanes, no CO2 compensation, but an invitation to land instead of depart. It is aimed at journeys that do not go farther, but deeper: to the Earth, to yourself, to that forgotten little root beneath your feet. At De Ceuvel, you do not check in for a flight, but for an experience. You do not choose a destination on the other side of the world, but a place within walking distance. There, you do not travel away, you arrive. With your senses as guide, the Earth as your travel companion and wonder as your luggage. A session at the Aardereisburo lets you feel what real contact with the Earth is: not a luxury, but a pure necessity. With Drawing with Earth, Taking Root, Crown Walking, Bodemproof, Groundmobiles and Mother Earth.
Mini market with inspiring makers and initiatives
11:30 – 17:00 | ongoing | Ceuvel square
Bring cash
- Ceuvelaar Mare-lief with wild nature lemonades, vinegars and sauces
- Local products by people from Noord, including homemade chocolates and peanut butter
- Voedselcirkel
- Reclaim the Seeds
Get creative with willow
12:00 – until we have woven it all | drop in | at Ceuvel square
Willow is a beautiful, natural and sustainable material. It is strong, flexible and can be used in many ways. Let your creative willow sap flow and get hands on with this ancient material, guided by Daan Goppel of De Wilgenvlechter.
Mini safari – Foraging edible plants
12:30 | approx. 50 minutes | gathering at Ceuvel square | language: Dutch
Did you know that you can simply find in the city the plants our ancestors used to live on? We will go looking for greenery that you can and cannot eat during this tasty walk at De Ceuvel with forager Anke Wijnja.
Onderstroom – in depth programme12:45 – 16:00 / Metabolic Lab
Onderstroom is a content based programme to inspire, share, surprise and deepen. It consists of:
- 12:45-13:30 / 14:30-15:00 edible shorts – short films, drop in
A small series of short documentaries and enchanting films related to the food cycle. Featuring shorts by, among others, Wim van Egmond & Hermen van der Waal
- 13:30-14:30 Wouter Engelbart – Feed Our Food! (interactive inspirational talk)
What do food flows look like if we perceive them through other living beings, a worm, a potato, a bacterium? What does the food we eat itself eat? And who might eat us? What does a ‘just’ food landscape look like?
An inspiring, interactive talk offering a different view on our everyday food.
About the speaker: Wouter Engelbart (he/him) is the founder of Platform DIS: an organisation that explores ecological issues through visual art. In addition, Wouter is a Speaker for the Living through the Zoönomic Foundation and is affiliated as a teacher with ArtEZ University of the Arts. - 15:00-16:00 Documentary ‘Land for Life’ – by Rik van der Linden
What if we do not need to save nature by shutting it out, but can instead support it during food production? A documentary about ‘Lenteland’, which strives for a sustainable food system without the use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides and heavy machinery. They want to revive the connection between the soil, the life within and upon it, the farmer and the consumer.
Teaser of the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2w5_cIUobw
Workshop: make your own worm hotel
14:15 – 16:15 | drop in | in the Maakbar | language: Dutch and English
Learn the art of composting. Worms turn your organic kitchen waste into fertile compost. Drop in and get started on your own small worm hotel for your home. Meanwhile, you will learn how to care for the worms and how composting organic kitchen waste contributes to a liveable planet. You will go home with your own worm hotel, including worms. How fun is that?
Led by Paul from Stadstuinderij Noordoogst.
Mini safari – Foraging medicinal plants
15:30 | approx. 50 minutes | gathering at Ceuvel square | language: Dutch
Even in the city, medicines grow in the ‘wild’! You will get a crash course in plant first aid during a walk at De Ceuvel with forager and herbalist Anke Wijnja.
Closing together – Circular bites and music
16:15 – 17:00 | Ceuvel square
Take a seat at the table! What do you eat during a Spring Celebration? Spring rolls, of course. Circular Chef Rhea turns food leftovers into delicious bites for you to enjoy. To complete the celebration, there will be a musical jam by Han Here and Now.
This programme is made possible in part by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK)
