The 750th anniversary of the founding of Amsterdam was celebrated in the city centre on Monday with a 75 metre strawberry sponge and cream cake.

The settlement first appeared in a document from 1275 which gave the residents of apud Amestelledamme ‘at the dam in the Amstel’ freedom from paying tolls. Amsterdam was granted city rights some 25 years later.

The celebration took place on Dam Square, where long queues formed despite the wet weather as people waited to claim their slice. Mayor Femke Halsema cut the first piece at exactly 7.50 am.

Halsema said her highlight of the jubilee year was the summer party held on part of the city’s ring road. “I hope the children will say in 50 years’ time ‘I was there’, just as I remember the car-free Sundays,” she said.

The festivities will conclude on Monday evening with a concert attended by king Willem-Alexander, queen Máxima and princess Amalia. The show, featuring Kris Kross Amsterdam, Roxeanne Hazes, Maan and Wibi Soerjadi, will be broadcast live on television from 8.30pm.