Festival guide
Tong Tong Fair 2027 is it back? What to do instead
No Tong Tong Fair is announced for 2027. The big Indisch (Indo-Dutch) fair of The Hague was last held in 2023; its 2024 edition was cancelled and the companies behind it were declared bankrupt. In 2027 the Jalan Jalan Festival is on 20 to 22 August and the pasar malam season starts in March.
Updated on Thursday 12 November 2026
At a glance
- Last edition
- 31 August to 10 September 2023 (the 63rd), Malieveld, The Hague
- 2024
- The 64th edition, due to start on 24 May, was cancelled; the companies behind the fair were declared bankrupt on 14 May
- 2027
- Jalan Jalan Festival in The Hague on 20 to 22 August; no Tong Tong Fair announced
- Started
- 1959, as the Pasar Malam Tong Tong
- Pasar Malam Besar
- A five-day Malieveld edition in 2027 has been discussed but is not confirmed
What was the Tong Tong Fair?
The Tong Tong Fair was the big Indisch fair of The Hague. The first edition, in 1959, was called the Pasar Malam Tong Tong and was held in the Moorish palace left over from The Hague's old zoo. It later found a home in the Houtrusthallen and then on the Malieveld, and on the way it was renamed, first Pasar Malam Besar and finally Tong Tong Fair. Stichting Tong Tong organised it from the late 1960s.
The last edition ran for eleven days, from 31 August to 10 September 2023, on the Malieveld. The organiser counted 55,000 visitors, 15,000 fewer than the year before, and blamed a long heatwave and a motorway blockade by protesters in the last weekend.
What happened in 2024?
On 2 May 2024 the organisation announced that the 64th edition, due to start on 24 May, could not go ahead for financial reasons. On 14 May the court in The Hague declared the two companies behind the fair, Tong Tong Holding B.V. and Pasar Malam Besar B.V., bankrupt. The director said afterwards that the organisers had hoped until the end for financial support, through a subsidy or a bank credit.
Stichting Tong Tong, which ran the fair's cultural programme, bought what was left of the bankrupt company in 2024, mainly for the archive. It had no staff left, and in October 2024 it said it would not hold the fair on the Malieveld in 2025: too expensive, and too risky a site. It was making careful plans for small activities.
Where to go in 2027
The Jalan Jalan Festival, a three-day Indisch city festival in the centre of The Hague, is on 20 to 22 August 2027. NOS called it the successor of the Tong Tong Fair when it was announced. The festival itself says its foundation is not the official successor but a new organisation with its own course. In 2026 the events on its main street, the Lange Voorhout, were free and some events at the other venues asked a contribution.
The pasar malam season of 2027 starts with Pasar Malam Rijswijk, next to The Hague, on 6 and 7 March; the dates announced so far run to 3 October. The Rotterdam Ahoy edition on 25 to 28 March is described by its organiser as the biggest pasar malam in the world.
Will the Pasar Malam Besar return?
An organiser from Zoetermeer revived the name Pasar Malam Besar and held a three-day edition in the Van Tuyllpark in Zoetermeer on 4 to 6 September 2026. In June 2026 he told the press that he was talking to Staatsbosbeheer, the owner of the Malieveld, about five festival days in The Hague in 2027, with room for up to 30,000 people a day.
That has not been confirmed.
Tong Tong Fair events
No Tong Tong Fair event is announced in the Netherlands yet. They appear here as soon as organisers announce them.
Questions
Is there a Tong Tong Fair in 2027?
None is announced. The fair was last held in 2023, and in October 2024 its foundation said it would not hold it on the Malieveld in 2025 because of cost and risk.
Why did the Tong Tong Fair stop?
Money. Its debts had grown for years, and in 2024 large suppliers wanted to be paid in advance, which the organisers could not do. The 64th edition, due to start on 24 May 2024, was cancelled and the companies behind the fair went bankrupt.
Is Jalan Jalan the successor of the Tong Tong Fair?
The festival says its foundation is not the official successor but a new organisation with its own course, started from the gap the Tong Tong Fair left.
Is there a restart (doorstart) of the Tong Tong Fair?
Only on paper. Stichting Tong Tong bought what was left of the bankrupt company in 2024 for the archive, which formally counts as a doorstart, but in October 2024 it had no staff and no fair and planned only small activities.
Will the Pasar Malam Besar come back to the Malieveld?
An organiser from Zoetermeer said in June 2026 that he was talking to the owner of the Malieveld about five days in 2027. It has not been confirmed.
When was the last Tong Tong Fair?
From 31 August to 10 September 2023, the 63rd edition, on the Malieveld.
Sources
Every fact in this guide comes from one of these pages.
- Tong Tong Fair: nieuws
- Tong Tong Fair: Faillissement
- Tong Tong Fair: Levensteken van Tong Tong
- Tong Tong Fair kijkt met gemengde gevoelens terug op 63e editie
- NOS: Teleurgestelde reacties op afblazen festival Tong Tong Fair
- NOS: Failliete Tong Tong Fair krijgt opvolger
- Moesson: Het failliet van de Tong Tong Fair, interview met Siem Boon
- Dagblad070: Pasar Malam Besar keert in 2027 terug op het Malieveld
- Over Jalan Jalan
- Jalan Jalan: praktisch
- Pasar Malam Besar
- Istimewa Events: home
- Istimewa Events: agenda 2027
- Pasar Malam Rijswijk
