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Music and Concerts in Amsterdam

Europe’s number-one festival city is hosting numerous exciting performances and concerts featuring leading artists from all over the world. Language will be no barrier at these festivals, some of which are even accessible free of charge.

Besides concert halls and theatres, the venues for the international, highly varied programmes include parks, town squares and even Amsterdam's canals. Allow yourself to be amazed by Amsterdam's festivals and transform your visit to Amsterdam into an unforgettable experience, with your senses stimulated in most unexpected ways.

FESTIVALS

AMSTERDAM ROOTS FESTIVAL

For more than ten years the Amsterdam Roots Festival has ranked amongst the leading international music festivals, presenting frontier-crossing developments in world music to a large, varied audience. The festival is characterised different ethnic backgrounds and music styles and contacts between different population groups. The Amsterdam Roots Festival will feature 'Roots Open Air' in Oosterpark a large-scale, free, open-air festival staged in one of Amsterdam's parks. Performances, presentations and workshops of Dutch and foreign music groups will then take place on several platforms and in tents. This musical spectacle will also feature more than a hundred stands representing organisations and institutes active in the fields of world music and non-Western culture, including exciting culinary products.

SENSATION

The 20,000 dance lovers that visited the first edition of Sensation in the Amsterdam ArenA, probably had no idea that this event would become the unprecedented spectacle that it is today. Now, almost ten years later, over half a million clubbers have partaken in this eight-hour long breathtaking night life experience. World-famous DJ's, an unprecedented show with dancers, special effects, aerial acts, fireworks and a strictly respected dress code (white only) have made it that this spectacle seems to become more impressive each year. As tradition has it, Sensation premieres every first weekend of July in the Amsterdam ArenA.

ITS FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM

The ITs Festival Amsterdam is the biggest European festival where you can scout a new Dutch and international generation of theatrical talent. The last nine days of June graduating actors, dancers, singers, mime artists, film producers and cabaret artists show their latest work. 30% of the performances are international and all shows are either subtitled, silent or in English. It?s a wonderful opportunity to catch a glimpse of how the performing arts will look in the coming years. Alongside the productions, the festival program is filled with inspiring debates, workshops and talk shows, ending every day with the famous ITs afterparty.

Amsterdam is a city which inspires and is a breeding ground for budding talent and creative innovation. Find your inspiration in any one of the theatres, arthouse cinemas or open-air stages which take place each year.

Arthouses

Lovers of arthouse films will find plenty to their liking, too. Many film theatres present both commercial and arthouse films. A good example is The Movies, accommodated in a former brothel, as you can still see. It has a very alluring ambiance. So alluring, in fact, that many visitors remain glued to the bar after watching a film. Cinecenter also offers a double programme. This cinema specialises in Mediterranean films. For golden oldies you should go to the Filmmuseum. Highly recommended, because the Filmmuseum is accommodated at what is probably the most stunning venue in Amsterdam. It’s not surprising that the museum’s patio was once voted the most beautiful in the world.

Open-air stages

Now that you’re in Vondelpark, you may well find it a good idea to walk on a bit, to the open-air stage. During the summer months performances are staged there almost every evening. They may vary from cabaret and dance to loud pop music. But there are more open-air stages in Amsterdam. The Amsterdamse Bos (‘Amsterdam Forest’) theatre for example. Performances typically include modern adaptations of classic works such as Shakespeare, Tsjechow, Brecht. The bleachers hold some 2000 spectators. The atmosphere is magical; many people come a few hours before the show to picnic. Please note: the theater is open only during the summer months and if weather permits.

Things to do in Amsterdam

Music and Concerts in Amsterdam

FESTIVALS

Arthouses

Open-air stages

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