Enkhuizen celebrates 650th birthday as a city in grand fashion

ENHUIZEN - Year-long celebrations are under way in Enkhuizen, a historic city on the banks of the IJsselmeer. Granted city rights in 1356, Enkhuizen has evolved from a 13th century village on a peninsula called West-Friesland, to a 16th century port that equaled and sometimes surpassed nearby Hoorn as the most important town in the entire Zuiderzee region. The program of festivities includes commemorations of important dates in the local history, a jazz festival, a water sports festival, as well as special events for youths and children and a limited edition of the famed Enkhuizer Almanak. In the Fall, Enkhuizen organizes events around the famed horse races, and during the Winter, the ‘entire’ city will be illuminated.