National Bock Beer Day in Zutphen: on Sunday 11 October the Hanseatic town tastes its autumn beer

On Sunday 11 October, the centre of Zutphen revolves around bock beer. From 12.00 to 19.00 there is a bock beer market at five locations in the town centre, according to the Stichting Nationale Bokbierdag, the foundation behind the event. In its events calendar, the municipality lists the Groenmarkt, the Houtmarkt, the Zaadmarkt, the 's Gravenhof and the Basseroord, with a parade route around the centre. According to the organisers, this is the 29th edition.

It began in May 1995 with an idea from a few members of the hospitality events committee, among them Arie Fluit, Jan Nieuwburg and Cor ten Barge, the foundation writes. That same autumn, together with Zutphen’s bars and restaurants, they set up the first Bokbierdag: bock beer from a range of breweries, with a festive programme around it.

A town of towers and gables

Zutphen calls itself a Hanseatic town, and the streets show it. According to VVV Zutphen, the local tourist office, the town has more than nine hundred (national) monuments, from churches and almshouse courtyards to town gates and shop buildings. Many shops and restaurants are housed in listed buildings. To see what the town looked like in the Hanseatic era, visit De Hanzeaat in the Bourgonjetoren, a medieval defensive tower. It holds a scale model of "Zutphen in 1485".

Three things to see and do

Sunday afternoon: the nostalgic parade. At 13.00 the procession leaves from the Hanzehal; the route is the same as for the 2025 edition. The list of participants includes carriages, an English horse-drawn tram, beer wagons, vintage cars, tractors from a threshing club, steam rollers and bands. If you come earlier, from 11.00 you can watch on the Hanzehal grounds as the horses are hitched up and the carriages made ready. Watching costs €2 per person there; children under 12 go free. Before the parade, brass street bands play at places including the Stationsplein, the Berkelpoort and the IJsselkade.

Saturday: the Librije in the Walburgiskerk. The Walburgiskerk on the 's Gravenhof houses the Librije, built between 1561 and 1564. It holds about 750 books; some still lie chained to reading desks that are centuries old. VVV Zutphen calls the Librije the oldest public reading room in the Netherlands. You can only get in with a guide: a tour of some 40 minutes starts every hour, for at most 8 people at a time. Booking is not possible, except for groups. The church and the Librije are closed on Sundays and Mondays, so do not plan them for Bock Beer Day itself. On Saturday 10 October, the tower of the Walburgiskerk is also open, from 11.30 to 14.00, weather permitting.

Around the weekend: the town from above. According to VVV Zutphen, you can climb the Wijnhuistoren on the Groenmarkt free of charge, led by a guide: on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 13.00, 14.00, 15.00 and 16.00, and during the autumn school holiday, from 10 to 25 October, also on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Booking is not possible, and in bad or overly hot weather the climb does not go ahead. The Sint-Janskerk and its tower are open to the public on 10 October. If you have a little more time on 10 or 11 October, you can visit the Viking market at Erve Eme, with craftspeople, traders and re-enactors (11.00–17.00, €6 from age 4).

Local flavour: from Hanzebok to IJsselbok

The 2026 bock beer menu is listed square by square on the organisers' website. Alongside national brands, there are names that refer to the town and the river. At the Wijnhuistoren on the Groenmarkt, Hanzebok is on the list; at Torro, IJsselbok and Chamavenbok; and on the Houtmarkt, Chamaven pours its Chamavenbok. Besides bock beer, there is wine, beer and soft drinks, and there are various food stalls. The taps close at 19.00.

New this year, according to the organisers, is that you can pay by card at all beer stalls; tokens are gone. A fourth stage stands at the bottom of the Zaadmarkt and the Pelikaanstraat, with classic rock from the seventies and eighties. For children there is, as in previous years, a children’s fair next to the Walburgiskerk.

Practical information & useful links

• Programme, parade and bock beer menu: bokbierdag.nl of the Stichting Nationale Bokbierdag. Bock beer market 12.00–19.00, parade 13.00–14.30. Music according to the programme: brass street bands from 12.00, most stages from 13.00 to 18.30, the Zaadmarkt from 14.00 to 19.00. Checked on 4 October 2026; check again shortly before your visit.
• Locations and permit: October events calendar of the municipality of Zutphen (in Dutch).
• Walburgiskerk and Librije: Tuesday to Saturday 11.00–17.00, closed Sundays and Mondays. Guided tour of the church and Librije: adults €16.00, with a Museumkaart €6.00. See walburgiskerk.nl for any exceptional closures.
• VVV Zutphen: Houtmarkt 75, inzutphen.nl for the Wijnhuistoren, the Sint-Janskerk and De Hanzeaat.