Riverdance in the Netherlands 2027? Irish dance shows

Riverdance and Lord of the Dance: is there a Dutch date?

No. The official Riverdance tour page lists its 2027 dates in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and France, and in Dublin and Killarney in Ireland and Derry in Northern Ireland. The Netherlands is not on it. Close to the Netherlands there are dates in Germany (Münster on Saturday 20 February 2027, Oberhausen on Wednesday 10 March, Cologne on Thursday 11 March and Dortmund on Friday 12 March) and in Belgium, from 16 to 28 March 2027, in Hasselt, Brussels, Oostende, Marche-en-Famenne and Antwerp. The production on tour is Riverdance 30 – The New Generation, and the page has a sign-up for news of future tours.

The official Lord of the Dance tour page lists dates in Czechia, Slovakia and Poland in November and December 2026, and none in the Netherlands.

If a Dutch date is announced, those two pages are where to look for the official ticket sellers.

Irish dance in Dutch theatres this season

Three touring shows bring Irish dance to Dutch theatres this season. Two are Christmas programmes of dance, music and song; the third, Celtic Sparks, plays from December into May.

Celtic Steps: An Irish Christmas. Celtic Steps is a show from Kerry in Ireland, with its own shows in Killarney and Tralee. The Dutch tour, listed by the theatre ticket seller NTK, runs from Thursday 3 December to Monday 28 December 2026: from Enschede, Nijmegen and Zwolle to Dordrecht, Den Haag (AFAS Circustheater Scheveningen, Monday 14 December), Eindhoven (Wednesday 16 December), Alkmaar and Zaandam, ending at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht. It is the company's fifth Christmas tour of the Netherlands in a row, and its dancers and musicians have worked in shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. The programme mixes Irish songs such as Danny Boy and Carrickfergus with carols such as Carol of the Bells and Silent Night. It is a separate show, not a Riverdance tour. In the shop of Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, tickets for 16 December cost €39.50 or €47 depending on the rank, with an interval drink included. Other theatres set their own prices.

Rhythm of the Dance: The Christmas Show. The show dates from 1998 and plays a Dutch Christmas tour from Thursday 3 December, in Nunspeet, to Wednesday 30 December 2026, in Rijswijk. The show has hard-shoe footwork, live Irish music and song, and Irish melodies woven with Christmas songs. De Hofnar in Valkenswaard presents it on Wednesday 9 December, 20:15 to 22:15 with an interval, for €44.50.

Celtic Sparks: On to Gweedore. Celtic Sparks is a Dutch production: Dutch dancers and musicians, with instruments such as the bodhrán and the uilleann pipes, perform songs and dances composed and choreographed for the show, led by dancer Rosalie Wagenaar and bandleader Tijn Berends. Its next dates run from Saturday 12 December 2026 at Stadstheater De Bond in Oldenzaal to Saturday 29 May 2027 in Heiloo, with dates in Assen (Sunday 20 December), Hilvarenbeek (Monday 28 December), Houten (Friday 12 February), Gorredijk, Nijmegen (Saturday 27 March) and other towns. At De Bond, tickets for 12 December cost €30 in the first rank and €25 in the second.

Irish music in theatres, without dancers

Two other tours play Dutch theatres in 2027. They are about Irish music, not dance.

Best of Ireland is a theatre concert: two Irish singers with a live band, playing traditional folk songs and hits from artists such as The Dubliners, Van Morrison, U2 and The Corrs. The tour starts on Thursday 11 February 2027 at HOFtheater in Raalte. At De Hofnar in Valkenswaard it plays on Friday 19 February, 20:15 to 22:45 with an interval, for €34.

The Irish Road Trip is a theatre concert by the Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen, known as the frontwoman of The Gathering. With three musicians she plays Irish folk and rock songs, from Enya and U2 to Molly Malone and Whiskey in the Jar. Among her dates are PHIL in Haarlem on Wednesday 17 March 2027, 20:00, in the Kleine Zaal, for €24.50 to €29.50 with a drink included, and SPOT/De Oosterpoort in Groningen on Saturday 27 March 2027, 20:30, for €28 with free seating.

What is Irish step dance?

Shows such as Riverdance are built on step dancing. Comhaltas, the movement for Irish traditional music, song and dance, describes it as foot dancing: quick, neat footwork while the body stays upright and the arms are held loosely and still. It is danced to dance tunes such as jigs, reels, hornpipes and slip jigs, and set dances are a group of solo dances of their own. Comhaltas places its golden age towards the end of the 18th century, when travelling dancing masters taught it.

Dancer Michael Tubridy, whose book the Irish Traditional Music Archive publishes, describes an older style of step dancing, learned from dance masters in County Clare, where the knees stay slightly bent to give the step a spring and the form is not really built around competition.

Riverdance asks dancers who apply to dance at championship level in Irish dance, preferably with a recall or a placing at the World Championships.