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Too many plans for the summer? Let me narrow your options down by suggesting our cities best festivals where you can meet, dance and drink with Amsterdam’s finest crowds. After all, ‘a hangover ain’t worth the pain if the party is lame’. So here’s our advice for where you festival warriors should go to and start getting wild in the last weeks of July. Early July edition here, June here, May here.
Saturday July 21st: Buiten Westen @ Westerpark
On Saturday July 21st our brand new festival for music and culture will finally kick off: Buiten Westen. This new initiative for electronic music, art, performance and more is taking place just around the corner at Amsterdam’s Westerpark. No big commercial set-up, but a normal ticket price, much more than just music and probably one of the most progressive line-ups of this summer featuring upcoming international artists and talented local heroes. Expect six stages all housing an Amsterdam based initiative for electronic music: Pleinvrees, Rekorder, Circus Wunderbar, BlackOut, Vrijbuiters and PaardenKracht. I have a feeling this is gonna be the highlight of the summer.
Saturday July 21st: Henk op de Helling @ NDSM Docklands
After a year of ‘radio silence’ HENK is back to welcome you to his festival get-together. Again his line-up will consist of live acts only and he’s invited numerous artistic people to decorate the surrounding area of the NDSM docks. Let’s hope HENK’s comeback works out, you gotta respect their liberal and progressive minded event. For this year, it’s probably your best bet if you don’t feel like a festival in the park!
Saturday July 21st: A Day At The Park 2012 @ Amsterdamse Bos
A Day At The Park has been around for a few years now. It has featured artists like Paul Kalkbrenner, Carl Cox, Sven Vath, Dennis Ferrer, John Digweed and many more in the past. All definitely a-listed artists in the electronica game. Therefore, this year’s headliners are no surprise: Richie Hawtin, Groove Armada (dj set), Green Velvet (live), Steve Lawler, Housequake
Jazzanova feat. Paul Randolph (live), Kraak & Smaak (live), Aeroplane, De Man Zonder Schaduw and many more. Probably not for the hipster crowd around our town, but this year will be the fifth anniversary of this festival so there’s definitely a good excuse to go mental.
Sunday July 22nd: Appelsap @ Oosterpark
“This party is dedicated to all the teachers that told us we’d never amount to nothing.” What is Appelsap? A fresh hiphop, soul, jazz & electronic music festival in eastern Amsterdam. I have to say this one has been one of my favourite festivals the last few years, it’s laid back, filled with people you know and good for pick nicks all over the place as well. A few names involved this year: Schoolboy Q (US), Ab-Soul (US), Rustie (UK), Nebulon (Zwart Licht, Skinto, D-Lipps, Noizboiz), Hydroboyz, Sef, Mr. Polska and Colors x Boiler Room. Check out how it was last year.
Appelsap Fresh Music Festival 2011 from Appelsap Official on Vimeo.
Sunday July 22nd: Milkshake Festival @ Westerpark
“For boys who love girls who love girls who love boys who love boys”. Yes that’s right, this is a gay-minded festival with big expectations. For this one, two of the biggest clubs in Amsterdam, AIR and Paradiso, have been engaged in a unique partnership by creating a brand new liberal festival. Five stages, each with their own character, form the platform for this festival. One thing the different stages have in common is a sense of courtesy, freedom and tolerance. Expect sparkling decorations, performance art and lots of fun.
Saturday July 28th: Welcome To The Future @ Het Twiske
On Saturday, July 28th, it’s time for the sixth edition of the always successful festival Welcome to the Future at Amsterdam’s finest nature area ‘t Twiske. WTTF has gained some serious recognition for its massive line-ups of house, tech-house and techno with over 50 serious national and international names. What I always enjoyed about this event is the variety of colourful tents, art and decorations surrounding the stages. It’s such a big exploration to walk around the huge areas of this festival that it’s weird suddenly remembering that this exotic location is so close to our capital city. Let’s hope this year doesn’t bring us rain like it did the past two years. Check out the sick line-up here.
Sunday July 29th: Shoeless Open Air @ het Rijk van de Keizer
“The only party where you have to hand in not just your jacket, but also your shoes at the wardrobe”. This is the official tag line of Shoeless, which you probably know by now. The Amsterdam based electornica party that started out as a joke in 2007 but has now grown into a yearly open air festival. And let’s be honest: there’s not much that sounds better than dancing in the grass on a midsummer afternoon while sipping on a drink and listening to good music, is there? Now add cosy little market shops, foot massages, people dressing up and nice chill-out areas to the mix and you have every reason to buy a ticket for this one. I have no idea what the line-up will be, I just know they have built up a darn good list of Amsterdam-based residents like Arjuna Schiks and Olivier Weiter.
That was it for now, Amsterdam. Next week we do August!
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