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!

A very well-organized event ! Me and my companions (all having experience in the event industry)…read morewere extremely impressed with the level of production quality. While the crowds were large, it was easy to move about the park, use toilets, and snag food without any horrendous lines. Everything from the tickets to the food seemed to be fairly priced. Fellow festival-goers appeared to be having a great time, as well! I would suggest the on-site camping to anyone that wants to keep the party going after 23:00 - with planned after-parties and silent discos. And even though Alesso, a headlining DJ, was a no-show, we were quite pleased with the remaining lineup (Deadmau5, Armin van Buren, Sam Feldt, etc). We'll definitely attempt another international trip to go back!

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!

Occasion: Second stop on an amazing night. First a quick look at Awakenings ....hold! Not my thing…read moreat all. A bit of a walk, but than i slid into this big ass space. Hit the wall of sound and thought back to being a kid at raves. That's it! One big massive rave, controlled. Very well controlled. I had the opportunity to see some backstage stuff, how-it-works. Than I let go and joined the mass, grinding their teeth. I didn't need anything, I was 16 again. BAMBAMBAM!! Never again, will I be dancing, very overdressed with my husband, in such a big festival...but when you like this music? Fak, their line-up is aaaaaalways good!! If you can get a chance? Great to get a backstage tour of cameras streaming the show!! For the people that love EDM? GO! Good luck getting tickets, be quick: always sold out. (Awakenings is at Easter, think of your Catholic school days and you'll know why it has that name) E*

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.

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.

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!!