3 stars for the sheer scale of this event. It is massive - probably unprecedented. And hilarious…read more The whole city lights up for a week with dance music of every ear-crushing variety, hosted in any venue that can put up speakers and free up a dance floor. Meanwhile, employers, policemen, and bouncers around the city turn a blind eye to the buffet of substances being carted around and consumed by the entire city. It's cool in concept - but huge minus points for the execution. For one thing it's almost impossible to pick an event if you're not familiar with the DJs, since you're essentially simply given a gigantic list of names and venues and left to flail around on your own. But my biggest problem with it is that (at least at the events I went to), they charged something like 2eur per glass of water!!! While also strictly policing bathrooms lest someone dare take a water-holding container near the sink. This is not only a rip-off, it's downright dangerous and flagrantly stupid. For this reason I won't be repeating the experience next year. If you're looking for a good dancing time - go to Awakenings or wait until festival season kicks off in early spring.

Wat een teleurstelling dat Milkshake festival!!! Bijna 90 euro voor een kaart en wat krijg je?…read moreSuper slechte muziek een handje vol entertainers en weinig bezoekers. Oh ja en drank en eten zijn ook mega duur. Vroeger klaar te het festival uit elkaar van entertainment en energie. Er is echt hé-le-maal niets van over..

It was a huge disappointment. The vibe seems to be…read moredeclining every year, with this year hitting the bottom. The quality of the programming has never been high, but it just seems to be getting worse. I don't even want to mention the terrible f.. up with Banks Sorry, dear Milkshake, but you won't be seeing me again.

Much to my enjoyment, there was yet another event happening right outside my door. Well, a hundred…read moremeters or so down to the south of me right on the Prinsengracht canal. Much of the year the canal near the Pulitzer Hotel is a serene strip of water with picturesque boats slowly gliding by. During the latter part of August is the Grachtenfestival. The area in front of the Pulitzer Hotel is closed off and a very large pontoon barge is assembled to hold a massive stage that various musical performances will be held on. The barge reaches all the way to either side of the canal and is probably about 30 meters or more deep. Suffice it to say large enough to hold an entire orchestra. The infrastructure is massive inclusive of all the necessary stage lights, spot lights, sound devices necessary to put on a major concert. The area in front of the stage where the canal is still visible is filled with boats full of festival goers who will enjoy the performances from their boats. These people will spend at least one night on the canal holding their spot up until the concerts are over. Prior to the concerts, a veritable party happens on the canal among all the boats moored there. The shore is also filled with festival goers and a festive atmosphere dominates with all the support people buzzing around directing traffic and people. The music starts later in the day so prior to that people mill about jockeying for better spaces from which to watch the show. The musical performances delight and enthrall the mass of people and command their attention with solid musical performances. If you've ever spent any time in Amsterdam you know how frequently it rains. Yes, it rained. People were prepared with umbrellas. Still, it rained. Regardless, the show went on. What a concert! It was magical with the lighting, the music and the weather all in sync unfolding a truly memorable show. In addition to this performance on the Prinsengracht canal there were other performances of varying sizes in other locations. One of which was a duet, a cellist and violinist, performing atop a houseboat located in a smaller canal a short distance to the south. It was a great weekend full of music and performances to remember.

F A B Amsterdam at its best (same as Pride and Koningsdag)…read moreDifficult to get close and impossible to get near on a boat unless you go in the morning But don't let that put you off - the concert is A-MAY-ZING!!

This festival takes place during the winter holiday season. I had really high expectations as it…read morehas been quite popular for a few years. I was told that there is a free boat tour where people line up in cues to get a ride, you can walk it along the canal edge, or you can do what we did and purchase a ticket online from "Those Dam Boat Guys". Personally, the later is great and well worth it. Our boat was small and gave us an intimate experience because the boat captain told us a little about the artistic lights and were could ask questions or slow down to take pictures. The lights are illuminated after dark which during the winter is quite early in the evening. Some of the lights were small displays and some were pretty magnificent. The whole festival takes less that 2 hours to view and it really is something to see both as a tourist or a local resident. I do suggest that the best viewing is when it is not a rainy evening so that you don't have an obstructed view from the boat.

Float thru an Amsterdam canal at night, drinking a beer and looking at light art?…read more Duh. FIVE STARS!

Roots Open Air!…read more Roots Open Air is a great family friendly festival, in Oosterpark Amsterdam, and best of all: it's free The Roots Festival has been in Amsterdam for over 30 years in various forms. It offers a stage to a variety of (inter)national artists and experts that share their art, culture and cuisines. In one week you can enjoy several indoor programs. And on Sunday it ends with a free outdoor festival, Roots Open Air. In this years edition I enjoyed the sound of a band with a didgeridoo (Soadaj'), participated in Salsa and Afrohouse workshops, saw a flashmob, danced to beautiful uptempo African and Cuban music and enjoyed a tasty Jamaican BBQ. And then there's so much more I did not even get so see! It has a full program that offers something for everyone! It also has a special section dedicated to children,with drawing tables, workshops and great performances some of which done by really skilled kids! It's one of the festivals that I try to see each year as it's always a great experience! This edition I attended as a Yelp reporter for WTF @ Salto, and had a chance to see the great enthusiasts and volunteers that make this happen. See my report via Salto TV or find my video on YouTube via TillyK101.

Ahhhhhhhhh I'm so in love with this festival!!!!Everything was Amaaaaaaazzzzzzzzing! From the music…read moreto the ambiance. It was well organized and greatly executed. I love to go to festivals, and living in Amsterdam makes it easier for me to do so, since all the awesome ones always happen around it. It was my first time at Loveland and i must say it was love at first sight! An amazing festival if you are a lover of EDM and is always fun in big groups. Also it didn't hurt to hear Carl Cox play his most amazing set yet! It was definitely a Saturday well spent!

This festival was very special for me as an expat here 1 year and still discovering the city. This…read morefestival is a neighbourhood festival and really cosy or 'knus'. It's a very Dutch event I really recommend it. For this weekend, some of the neighbours at Wilhelminastraat open their doors to showcase their local talent - be it theatre, singing, live music or poetry. There is a show on the hour over three hours on the Friday night when I went and there is a street BBQ and live music perfect for meeting your friends at the beginning, between and at the end of the performances for the closing party. I lived that they had different food between the acts too - I didn't want to eat a huge BBQ plate for example but they had satay chicken, soup and very good burgers on offer later in the evening. The first event I went to was in someone's lovely but cosy living room. I think there were at most 20 chairs available. This was two young parents who got back into music when they started their family. The father was the pianist and singer and he and his wife swapped seats depending on if she was playing accordion or he was playing guitar instead of the piano. The songs were very personal and the acoustics were good. He was singing one song about the aspirations for his boys and I could hear the older brother asking his baby brother to "shh" at the back of the home. When we left we all had an enthusiastic "Ciao!" from this cute little boy too. The second event I saw was a group called Funambulism. There was a lot of talent here but we were asked to not say too much about what we saw and the future for these guys! I'll just say remember the name ;) This was in a larger space with more seating. A very talented vocalist and poet, violinist and two guitarists including an incredible bassist. This was intimate but more polished than the previous artists. These guys had CDs for sale, I even bought one and had a chat with the band afterwards while they signed it for me. This was for me like seeing a starting out band that you know will get bigger and I love the buzz of seeing that talent in a smaller setting. The third and last show I saw was in a hairdressers and was a complete band with cello, trumpet, 2 violinists, accordion and more. This was pretty much a hotbox as so packed but I was in charge of keeping the door open at the end to cool us down on this hot summer night. People walking passed on the street stopped to look and listen the music at this crammed party. These guys did some covers of songs like Monster and some European classics like Natalia. The street party was buzzing and the artists that performed were out drinking and listening to the stage at the end. You could tell these were neighbours doing this from the heart and people like me wanting to ride the coat-tails of that a bit for a different night out. The organiser of the event was a sweetie, talking and smiling with everyone. This event stuck with me for the corner brown cafe and the special, very Dutch, atmosphere that wasn't commercial and had a lot of heart. I will definitely be back for this one but hope that by next year my Dutch is better and I will bring my bike so I can cycle between shows wine in hand like a true local.