Amsterdam to host the 14th World Cities Culture Summit, 15-17 October 2025
This event will coincide with the city’s 750th anniversary celebrations
Amsterdam will welcome senior leaders from the world’s largest creative cities for the 14th World Cities Culture Summit, taking place from 15 to 17 October 2025. This event will coincide with the city’s 750th anniversary, a year-long celebration of Amsterdam’s people, heritage, and vibrant culture. This year’s theme is: Stronger Together: Culture in a Changing World.
About the World Cities Culture Summit
Described as a ‘Masterclass in cultural policy’, the World Cities Culture Summit is the flagship annual event of the World Cities Culture Forum. Bringing together Deputy Mayors, Culture Commissioners and city policymakers, the Summit provides a unique platform to connect, collaborate, and exchange ideas. It is solutions-driven event that encourages city leaders to collaborate to improve the lives of their citizens through culture: with over half of previous attendees implementing or improving cultural policies in their cities as a result of attending.
- Policy sharing: Delegates will share innovative policy ideas from cities around the world.
- Debating city challenges: Topics such as the climate crisis, social inequality and the rapid rise of generative AI will take centre stage.
- Cultural opportunities: Discussions will highlight culture’s role in creating sustainable tourism, inspiring climate action, building inclusive cities and explore opportunities for city collaboration.
The 2025 Summit will launch the seventh edition of the World Cities Culture Report, the most comprehensive dataset on urban culture.
Sessions will take place across Amsterdam’s diverse cultural venues, offering Summit delegates the chance to learn more about the city’s innovative cultural policies and projects in situ.
About the City of Amsterdam
The first city in the world to formally appoint a ‘Night Mayor’ in 2014, Amsterdam’s innovative cultural policies have influenced many cities across the world. Nearly 100 cities now have appointed night-time positions.
Under Deputy Mayor Touria Meliani’s leadership, the city is making access to culture a priority. Its inclusive Night Vision for Culture has secured €2.2 million to boost nightlife, create new venues and support young talent to kickstart nightlife businesses.
Home to world-renowned institutions like the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam has significantly expanded its cultural infrastructure over the past two decades. More than 25 institutions have been built or refurbished, including the central public library and the Stedelijkmuseum Museum. Nationaal Slavernijmuseum, a new national museum documenting the history of transatlantic slavery will open its doors to the public within the next few years.
Amsterdam’s leadership in cultural accessibility has been influential internationally. The city’s participation in the World Cities Culture Forum led to the creation of the ACCESS Network, an EU-funded initiative fostering cultural inclusivity across eight European cities. From 2020 to 2022, Amsterdam’s action plan focused on increasing cultural participation in suburban areas like Nieuw West, Noord, and Zuidoost by addressing ticket pricing, venue distribution, and programming relevance for residents.
