Shops in Groningen city centre regularly open on Sunday. In spring and summer, they are open on 4 March, 25 March, 1 April, 6 May, 3 June, 2 September and 30 September from noon until 5 pm.

During the weekend of 12 and 13 May, the fortified town of Bourtange returns to former days when the ‘Slag om Bourtange’ (Battle of Bourtange) is re-enacted. The city returns to the year 1814, the Napoleonic era.

The weekend of 14 and 15 April is the Museum weekend in the Netherlands. True to tradition, many Groningen museums participate.

Traditionally on Good Friday, Groningen city centre is all about flowers and plants during the annual flower market. This is the largest flower and plant market in the north of the Netherlands and this year takes place on 6 April.

With Famille Verte, an exhibition of Chinese porcelain, the Groningen Museum has an international premier. This is the first time an exhibition is dedicated to this green enamelled porcelain from the 17th and early 18th century. The exhibition ‘Famille Verte’ exhibition is on display from 27 June through 20 May.

Groningen is the second cultural city in the Netherlands, as was shown from the ‘De culturele kaart van Nederland’ (The Cultural Map of the Netherlands) study by the Atlas voor gemeenten agency.

As from 18 February, an exhibition about the prison system, ‘Cruel and Unusual’, is on display.

The new Groningen Magazine, a colourful magazine from the Tourist Information Office filled with information about the city and province of Groningen, is now available.

Every two years, a Christmas Fair is held on and around the Menkemaborg Groningen estate house in Uithuizen, and this year it is scheduled for 11 December. The estate house will be all about Christmas, with an enchantingly illuminated estate house, Christmas carols and a Christmas market.

On Sunday 6 November, shops in Groningen city centre will open their doors between noon and 5 pm.

‘The Middle Ages of Henk Helmantel’ is the name of the exhibition that will be on display up to and including 31 December in almost all of the spaces of the Ter Apel monastery.

Master photographer Ken Schles returns to the Noorderlicht Fotogalerie. Until 11 December, the photo gallery presents his latest project: Oculus; an exhibition about the relationship between images, the memory and the metaphor of light.

Groningen residents are proud of their city. In the Internet poll ‘Which is the friendliest city in the Netherlands’, Groningen takes second place.

In late November 2011, the Tourist Information Office at the Grote Markt will move to a temporary accommodation also located at the Grote Markt. It will stay there while the construction of the Groningen Forum takes place on the eastern side of the market.

Explore the most 'virgin' areas of the northern part of Groningen in two or three days while covering about 25 kilometres per day; this is the Ruige Route Hogeland (Highland Rough Route). Participating adventurers traverse the tour hiking, cycling or canoeing.