Discover the Dutch city of cheese in the heart of Alkmaar at the Cheese Market! See over 2,400 cheeses (all Gouda!) on the Waagplein and watch this colourful tradition unfold before your eyes.
The market takes place every Friday morning from April to September and in the evenings drawing July and August. There’s a lot to enjoy at the market, from stalls where you can buy local products, to the spectacle itself. So, what happens at the Cheese Market?
Watch the cheese arrive as ‘cheese carriers’ carry the cheese in two on barrows suspended from their shoulders! This is probably the best sight of the market. Cheese carriers can carry up to 160 kilos and run in a certain rhythm called the ‘cheese carrier dribble’ to keep balanced.
Are you ready to see a sea of Gouda as they unload it in the square? It’s an amazing sight!
When all the cheese is set out, the cheese bell will ring, and the market begins! Judges assess the quality of the Gouda by tasting it and even checking its number of holes. Time for the bargaining to start!
When a batch of cheese has been sold, the cheese carriers take it back on their shoulder barrows to the Waag to be weighed on centuries-old scales. See the scales for yourselves and even let yourself be weighed!
Cheese throwers load the cheese into the buyer’s truck and the market comes to an end. Enjoy the buzzing atmosphere of the market and lose yourselves in this ancient tradition.
