Dutch Pen Show 2025

Sadly, another pen show that I couldn’t get to this year, and from what I have seen online, I really must make sure I am there next year!!

A pen friend very kindly agreed to do a write up for me. I think it’s fair to say dear reader that you are fortunate I wasn’t there because this write up truly captures the essence of a large pen show.. thank you pen friend, I am much obliged!

“Aqua, Appeltaart, and Oblique Architects: A Whirlwind Weekend at the Dutch Pen Show

The Dutch Pen Show—a place where pen budgets go to die, where you are judged not by the colour of your ink but by the contents of your pen case, and where “Just one more slice” became both a personal mantra and a waistline increasing lie!

I arrived in Utrecht on a sunny Friday afternoon, armed with a modest budget, high expectations, and regrettably low levels of self-control. The venue is a tall, modern hotel in an industrial/business area of Utrecht with two fairly bright, but overcrowded conference rooms that smelled faintly of vintage celluloid and anticipation. The vibe is a bit like a Rolling Stones concert, with a convivial mixture of old hands (who have seen it all before) and excited younger visitors (experiencing everything for the first time) - there’s also an above average chance you’ll overhear a heated debate about flex nibs versus cursive italic grinds while waiting in the entry queue!

Vendors as Far as the Eye Can See (hold on to your wallets)

Tables stretch out in each room like an all-you-can-eat buffet, filled with exotic delicacies like Japanese urushi eyedroppers, over-engineered German piston fillers, vintage Italian celluloids in every conceivable pattern, inks in a myriad of colours shining in their ornate jewel-like flasks—every table demanding individual attention and consideration.

Vendors routinely allow testing of pens (even very expensive ones) and often a quick dip in the obligatory Waterman blue ink will allow you to decide whether you are going to spend your retirement savings on a hand decorated masterpiece from an obscure prefecture in Japan or be one of the first to own a pen from an enthusiastic new maker who is 3D printing writing instruments in his suburban garage.

Ink Samples and Existential Crises

The ink tables are an assault on the senses, with walls of shimmering blues, moody purples, retina burning oranges, calming greens and names like “Jellyfish Neon Breakfast”, “Tweedle Dummer” and “Starlight Moon Dust”

During the first day a friend asked “Do I need another teal?”, gripping a bottle like it was a philosophical question. I instantly recognised the warning signs of a woman on the edge, and quickly answered “Yes, yes, you do.”

Workshops, Nib Doctors, and Ink-Stained Fingers

The show features a wide variety of workshops where earnest and patient instructors teach willing participants the basics of gothic script, pen cleaning and mindless doodling (not necessarily at the same time!). I discovered first hand that sophisticated (or even just functioning) motor skills are essential for these workshops if you don’t want your page to look like a spider has walked across it!

In hall one, at the far end you will find the nibmeisters, a group of ‘nib whispering wunderkinds’ performing surgery on your favourite pen like it was a delicate organ transplant. Expert hands are soaked in the inky blood of previous operations while tine alignment is adjusted with the focus of a neurosurgeon and groundbreaking grinds are born.

United by Passion, Divided by Ink Storage Philosophy and Section Girth Ethics

There are many kinds of pen people: The ‘Minimalist’ who buys one bronze and concrete pen (made from the deactivated detritus of an former East German nuclear power station), The ‘Flamboyant Collector’ with 3000 pens (in a rainbow of celluloids) all listed on a carefully constructed spreadsheet, The ‘Moderator’ who enjoys converting Jinhaos into eyedroppers that look like lightsabres, and The ‘Accidental Shopper’ who arrives at the show ‘just to browse’ and ends up leaving with two Montblancs, a Nakaya, a Visconti, sixteen bottles of ink, and twenty three notebooks!

Everyone I met was warm, welcoming, and wonderfully friendly. There were lively debates about the perfect paper for shading inks, tips on fixing skipping nibs, and at least one impromptu attempt to convert a member of hotel staff into a fountain pen enthusiast! 

Parting Thoughts and Ink-Stained Regret

By Sunday night, my fingers were turquoise, my wallet was empty, and my heart was full. I had made new friends, laughed more than anyone should, tried a bizarrely tasty Dutch meat-based sausage snack, and discovered an alarming number of pens I now ‘need’ (like a raden decorated Montblanc 149 that costs more than my annual utilities bill).

The Dutch Pen Show is many things: a marketplace, a community, a support group, but most of all, it’s a celebration of the weird and wonderful world of fountain pens—where even in a digital age, nib nerds gather to talk about piston torque, clogged feeds and sheening properties.

Now I just have to figure out how to get through the long days until next year’s show…”