The Hague is the location for the Just Peace Festival 2015.
Known as the International City of Peace and Justice, The Hague will host the second “Just Peace Festival” in September 2015, centered around the United Nations Peace Palace.
Now an annual event and running between September 18 and 21, the Just Peace Festival is held in celebration of the UN-declared International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 20. An action-filled package of events are organized for the weekend, from a running race to a treasure hunt for kids. Events will take place all over the city from the Peace Palace to seaside Scheveningen.
The Peace Race through the streets of The Hague is to be held for the third time on Saturday September 19, with more than 10,000 competitors running various distances, up to 10 km, with the finish line on Groot Hertoginnelaan. Saturday also sees another offshoot of the festival; Peace in the Park is a popular rally with live music held in the Paleistuin. Saturday night sees the ONE Festival take off around the Grote Markt in Hague’s historic center, with live bands, workshops and debates aimed at encouraging young people to join the peace movement.
Sunday sees the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice (both in the Peace Palace) open their doors to visitors from 12 noon. This is a rare chance to glimpse behind the scenes of an international institution normally firmly closed to the public.
On Monday, September 21, a Peace Rally will set off in convoy from the Pier in Scheveningen with classic cars and modern sports cars taking part; their route will take them into the center of The Hague. At 2pm, HagueTalks will also kick off a discussion forum looking at new ways of introducing peace, with world-renowned speakers from all over the world.
Every night of the festival, the Peace Palace will open after dark for illuminated guided tours of the vast, Neo-Renaissance edifice, which was donated to The Netherlands and the cause of world peace by USA philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1913. Other events over the long weekend include a concert in the Grote Kerk, dance performances in the Peace Palace Gardens and the World Press Photo 2015 exhibition in The Hague City Hall, where some of the best and most graphic of the last year’s press images will be displayed. The festival wraps up with an open-air dance performance in the grounds of the Peace Palace plus the screening of the Afghan-based war movie Inbetween Worlds.
Just Peace Festival in The Hague from Netherlands Things to Do
