On Friday, October 24, 2014 the Nelson Mandela park was officially openend in Amsterdams South-East suburb 'the Bijlmer. The choice for this location to pay homage to Mandela was the result of an online enquete under the Amsterdam people. Unfortunately, it was raining during the opening event, but a large number of primary school children from the Bijlmer were still singing enthusiastically (see photograph). During the ceremony, short speeches were delivered by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Eberhard van der Laan, and the new South African ambassador to The Netherlands, Bruce Koloane.
