Stock up on crisps and beer because the Dutch are gearing up for some serious sporting action even if you are not. But don’t worry, non-sporty types, there is plenty of other stuff going on in June as well.

Find out what design can do

In a packed programme, the Internationaal Theater in Amsterdam is hosting the 10th edition of What Design Can Do. How can the the most pressing social and environmental problems be helped by design? Top designers and startups have all pondered that question and will be sharing their ideas and thoughts via workshops lectures and interactive networking sessions. June 3. Website 

Catch a cricket match

If you are not among those who snore merrily away during a cricket match you are in luck: the West Indies, England, Pakistan and New Zealand are all playing against Oranje in the months ahead. It is, Dutch cricket officials say, the biggest season ever for the Dutch team.

The season begins with Amsterdam club VRA hosting the West Indies on May 31, but they will be putting in another appearance on June 2 and 4, followed by England on 17, 19 and 22 June. Website

Roll up for the rugby

More sporting action is in the pipeline for rugby fans at the Amsterdam 7s rugby tournament, on June 4 and 5. In total 70 teams – men and women’s – will battle it out for the titles over two days. You can buy tickets online with a 20% discount quoting DN2022. Website

Meet the Nookie Monster

It’s not quite Sesame Street so parents don’t take your children to Avenue Q which features similar furry creatures but ones that swear and have sex. This much-awarded musical is about a college graduate trying to make his way through life. All is not cookies and cream, he finds. June 24 to July 10. Website

Whoop it up at Oerol

Not long now until one of the country oldest and most likeable festivals kicks off in the Wadden island of Terschelling. Oerol, which celebrated it’s 40th edition last year, is a melting pot of international theatre, dance and art against a backdrop of sandy dunes and, hopefully, a sunny sky.

The programme is bursting with new and established talent, sharing and talking about their work. Don’t be surprised if a person carrying a bench pops up next to you to invite you for a chat: it’s all part of the Oerol community spirit. June 10-19. Website

Also check out the Crave Festival in The Hague (June 4),  Mañana, Mañana in Laren (June 9-12) ((Gelderland), Best Kept Secret in Hilvarenbeek (June 10-12) and Mystic Garden in Amsterdam (June 18).

Take your big questions to the Groote Museum

‘Plants have no trouble discarding what is old and redundant’ reads one of the exhibits at the brand new Groote Museum next door to Artis Zoo.

Through a combination of art and natural history the museum is trying to shine a light on ‘the big questions’, such as who are we anyway? There are lots of interactive things to do such as putting on a snuggle coat or monitoring the water intake of a nearby tree. Great fun but not cheap at €17.50 for non museum card holders. Website

Take a trip to Greenland

In The New Continent, performed by the International Theatre Collective Eindhoven (ITCE) is about the resilience of a group of people condemned to each other’s company in a limited space. On their way to the promised land of Greenland, where they have purchased some land, their ship breaks down and they are forced to spend their time in the hold where paranoia soon rears its head.

‘It is about how people deal insecurity,’ author and director Geert Niland says, ‘and about empathy for people who react differently to insecurity than ourselves.’ June 9 and 23. Website

Get your art together on the beach

Museum Beelden aan Zee and Festival Classique have come together to organise a cultural day out for all. Visit the museum by day and see La Traviata on Scheveningen beach by night. There’s Aadje Piraatje for the little ones from 4.  June 9-13. Website

Follow the Standard Bearer

Rembrandt’s Standard Bearer, bought for a controversial €150 mn to keep it safe for the nation, is currently on a tour of twelve museums, no doubt sending insurance costs sky high.

After a month at the Fries Museum it is now the turn of the Centraal Museum in Utrecht to up security. The painting will be back in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in May next year. Meanwhile you can follow its progress on this website.

Step into paradise in Friesland

Oranjewoud in Friesland, the domain of rich folk who built their mansions and gardens there in the 17th century, is the lush backdrop to Paradys – Arcadia, an aptly named open air presentation of art by such diverse artists as Marianna Simnett, Charles Avery, Mercedes Azpilicueta, Diana Scherer, Erik van Lieshout, Augustas Serapinas, Isa van Lier, Louis Le Roy, Kasper Bosmans, CATPC / Athanas Kindendie, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Alexandra Pirici, Em’kal Eyongakpa, Gregor Schneider and Alicja Kwade. Enough! Until August 14. Website

Fall under the spell of Ararat

The Drents Museum in Assen has mounted a spectacular display of archaeological treasures called Under the spell of Ararat, guiding the spectator through the history and culture of ancient Armenia.

Central to the exhibition is Mount Ararat, not in Armenia proper but closely linked to it, and on which the fabled ark of Noah was stranded after the flood. One of the top exhibits is a wooden fragment said to come from the ark. Until  October 30. Website 

Experience more is more in Gorssel

He is Chaïm Soutine, Francis Bacon, Vincent van Gogh, and David Hockney on steroids, a critic wrote about the German painter Norbert Tadeusz (1940 – 2011),  whose work is now being exhibited for  the first time at the More museum of contemporary realism in Gorssel.

Subtitled, ‘Life as a spectacle’, Tadeusz’ works are monumental explosions of colour, full of references to the masters of the past securing him, perhaps, a place in their ranks. Until October 2. Website