Essentially The Hague for Tuesday 27 October: Beekeeper fears hornets, clocks went back mid-race, surf clinics

Tuesday October 27, 2026

Good morning, The Hague. Today: free surf clinics run in Scheveningen until 20 November, the clocks went back mid-race at the Delft night run, and Haags Verhaal brings street art leaders to Pulchri Studio.

Lichtpuntjes must leave Mariahoeve shopping centre by 2027: The foundation runs a meeting place, free meals and children's activities in two units that the planned renovation will take back. A city subsidy paying about 60 of its roughly 80 volunteers 150 euros a month also ends, and no new location has been found.

Free surf clinics in Scheveningen until 20 November: Surf City Den Haag is introducing visitors to the surf culture of the Hague coast, with international films and water safety courses alongside the clinics. A surf film festival runs at Theater De Regentes on 31 October, and Dutch champions are honoured at Hart Beach.

Gerda, 82, fears Asian hornets will finish her bees: Asian hornets ate two of her twelve colonies this summer, and she worries none of her bees will be left by spring. She has half-closed the hives to block them. She has kept bees for 46 years and sells honey and beeswax candles in Rijswijk.

Clocks went back mid-race at Delft night run: Around 1,100 runners set off at 2am on Sunday for a half marathon through central Delft and the Delftse Hout, finishing after the hour fell back. Rain and the tail of a storm soaked the route, which is run every five years; the next is due in 2031.

Pink cakes off the table at blood banks: Visitors were leaving donation sites with bags full of free biscuits, so Sanquin has tightened its policy nationally. Donors who want a pink cake must now ask the volunteers at the coffee machine. A Delft volunteer estimated the giveaway was costing a thousand euros a month.

New RTL5 series follows Scheveningen beach season crews: The eight-part programme starts tomorrow and follows enforcement officers, night-time beach cleaners, traffic controllers, police and the harbour service through a busy summer at the coast. Local businesses and residents feature too. The first episode centres on the Queen opening the renewed middle boulevard.

Owner unreachable after Hague watch webshop goes bankrupt: A delivery firm that shipped orders for the watch and jewellery shop won a court ruling over unpaid invoices, then requested the 22 September bankruptcy. The administrator has found no stock or assets to sell and no creditor list. He is checking bank statements to identify who is owed.

Moerwijk youth centre asks public to fund renovation: The foundation has used the Jan Luykenlaan building for a year, but it has no floor, no ceiling and no separate rooms. Heating, ventilation, insulation and lighting all need work. Grant funds refused because the group has no multi-year contract, so it is collecting donations instead.

The one recipe Janneke Vreugdenhil does not like: The Hague food writer has released her 25th cookbook, Lievelings, a collection of her own favourite dishes. One of her earlier books had to include endive mash, a Dutch staple she has never enjoyed, so she added bacon and vinegar. She owns no deep fryer and fries in a wok instead.

Racist comments flood Hague care workers' hiring campaign: Workers with dark skin were asked online where their white colleagues had gone, and told that families would not want a Black carer. The provider is removing the comments and decided against pulling the campaign, saying silence is not the answer. A police report has not been ruled out.

Music Monkeys for toddlers at Bibliotheek Bouwlust: Toddlers and their parents sing, move, and play simple instruments around themes drawn from picture books. 27 October, 10:15, Bibliotheek Bouwlust. KIDS WORKSHOP

Free story reading and a craft for children aged three to eight: The hour opens with a book, then everyone makes something tied to the story, with places booked a week ahead by email. 27 October, 15:00 - 16:00, Bibliotheek Laakkwartier. STORY / READING

Romeo and Juliet set on a cultural and religious fault line: Char Li Chung's version puts the two lovers on opposite sides of a religious divide, played in the main hall. 27 October, 20:00, Koninklijke Schouwburg. THEATER

Double Dutch: Two, stand-up in English on living between cultures: Derek Mitchell plays this one for the last time, mixing characters, stories and stand-up, with Phoebe Perry opening; ages 16 up. 27 October, 20:00, Theaters Diligentia en PePijn. COMEDY

Under the Flags, the Sun, a Paraguay dictatorship documentary with English subtitles: Ninety minutes built from rediscovered newsreels, propaganda films and declassified papers tracing Alfredo Stroessner's thirty-five years in power. 27 October, 18:45, Filmhuis Den Haag: Studio B. FILM

Haags Verhaal connects street art leaders with Pulchri Studio: Warm soup precedes an evening of personal accounts pairing urban graffiti creators with traditional gallery artists. 27 October, 17:30 - 20:30, Pulchri Studio. TALKS / IDEAS

Two offshore racers share what the world championship taught them, free entry: Part of the club's Winning Tactics Café evenings, with the coastal winter races analysed and a curry served earlier for 12.50 euros. 27 October, 20:00, Jachtclub Scheveningen. TALKS / IDEAS

BETWEEN || TUSSEN, Jacqueline Louter's free exhibition of mostly new work: Staged photographs from her Delft studio, built with secondhand finds, flowers and branches, hold the tension between what shows and what hides. 27 October, 12:00, Pulchri Studio. ART / MUSEUMS

Read The Hague's building history in its bricked-up windows: The city's architectural historian explains how blocked windows and differing brick walls reveal how buildings changed; already sold out. 27 October, 10:30 - 11:30, Bibliotheek Loosduinen. TALKS / IDEAS

Sixteenth-century grocers to modern pharmacists at Leidschenveen library: A municipal archivist traces how local medicine sellers evolved from guild craftsmen into modern healthcare professionals. 27 October, 14:00 - 15:00, Bibliotheek Leidschenveen. TALKS / IDEAS

Stone Age braiding and plant weaving for adults: Adults try twining and spiral braiding with plant fibers, guided by municipal archaeology educators. 27 October, 15:30 - 17:00, Bibliotheek Ypenburg. WORKSHOP

Icone di Strada, a free street style portrait workshop with artist Ninetta: You draw yourself in black and white, cut it out, mount it on black and add gold and silver accents. 27 October, 19:00, Laaktheater. WORKSHOP

#DemocracyDrinks looks at Serbia's elections and Albania's protests: A discussion on whether the region faces a broader shake-up and what it means for EU integration, with speakers still to be announced. 27 October, 17:00 - 19:00, The Hague Humanity Hub. SEMINAR / TALK

Income inequality and falling mortality in Victorian London and Glasgow, in English: Konstantinos Angelopoulos presents archive data showing death rates halved earliest in districts where incomes were less skewed, part of a seminar series. 27 October, 16:00, International Institute of Social Studies, Room 4.01. SEMINAR / TALK

Want to make sure you never miss a day of Essentially The Hague? Subscribe here.