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!

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.

PACHA - the Ibiza party legend at a festival in Amsterdam. I was in straight away. The line-up…read moreincluded The Magician, Martin Solveig, Franky Rizardo, Claptone, Sander Kleinenberg, Todd Terry and Pep&Rash to name a few. The festival ran 12:00-23:00 so you could really make a day of it. There were hammocks where you could lay back and ease yourself into the day or do the opposite and party until your feet hurt and you had to have a lie down. There was a market selling hippy/festival, clothing including furry bodywarmers which I very almost bought as it was on sale but I decided to dance more to warm up instead. No hammock for me, I was here to dance! The four stages meant that there was enough variety that you could dip in and out if you weren't feeling the tunes on the main stage or just wanted to mix it up a bit. This was a well organised festival with tokens on sale for transactions to speed up payment and have queues shorter and make it easier for bar staff and influenced party goers. They had a good range of spirits and mixers on sale, beer, water and a very impressive Toro wine stall. This had a proper selection of wine including a fantastic celeste red which one of my friends and I were super impressed with. The pizza was good and they had a range of organic and other food options including the surinamese food which smelt great but had a longer line. Being a seasoned festival goer, I was impressed with the atmosphere at this festival. There wasn't any trouble that I saw but security and staff weren't heavy-handed either. After being to many festivals across Europe, Australia and NZ I was impressed with this particularly at an outdoor dance event. Not overcrowded, friendly and well done. It was also at a great location as next to Bijmer Arena so easy to get to and from after the event. Martin Solveig was the highlight of my night this time but there were some great dance moments at the other stages. I'll be back of more next year.

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!!

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.

Remember back in the day when we had drive-in cinemas? You would roll up in your car, tune your…read moreradio to the movie channel, get cosy in your car or spread a picnic, and enjoy the movies while eating, drinking, relaxing, or even cuddling? Sadly, drive-ins are no longer a thing and those that remain are rapidly shutting down. But, this is Amsterdam. We don't do cars, we do bikes, and why not have an open-air movie festival where you bike-in, park your omafiets, and get cosy watching a movie, a short, and then dancing to some live tunes? That's Pluk de Nacht for you. Organized every August, this is why God gave the Dutch their summers. It's such great joy to come to the Westerdok directly from work with a little picnic. If you don't want to carry stuff, there is always a lot of food and drinks on sale, all vegetarian friendly! The movies tend to be awesome indies from all over the world and in every language conceivable. Most of all, it's just fun to catch up with friends and make it a nice outing. I look forward to Pluk de Nacht every year and it never disappoints. Here's to more Amsterdam awesomesauce.

I think this is a great initiative. Art house films, films we should see but often skip over, shown…read morefor free, outdoors at a time of year that should be warm. Food and drink are available and a bit as overpriced, as you'd expect. And even if you think it's a bit overpriced (many people bring their own food and drink), it is cheaper than going to a normal cinema. The free ticket more than compensates for the slight premium added to the other prices. And it feels so special! Sitting outside, watching the stars overhead, or the NDSM ferry passing by, it all adds up to a wonderful experience. In a regular cinema you don't talk to other parties, but here that happens and that is so nice. It feels a bit like a mass picnic. If you go, please support them. It's okay to bring some of your own stuff with you, but let's not kill the goose for the golden egg. Buy a beer. Buy a Cuban pulled port sandwich (they're good!), buy something.

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!

The NDSM Werf is a good place to go for free if you want to enjoy an hour or two walking around and…read moreseeing artists works. This is the old Netherlands ship works - some large battle ships came out of this building. But now it's a fantastic space for creatives and their studios - we were fortunate to see graffiti artists at work on some new installations outside. There is also the STRAAT Museum which we did not take the time to do. It's easy to get to - Ferry 4 is right outside Central Station - ferries are free - and it takes right to the entry.

I jumped on the free ferry (F4) from behind central station and as you approach you already feel…read morelike the coolest person. I came especially to see the Anne Frank mural by Eduardo Kobra which I was really excited about and it didn't disappoint. I loved it. NDSM had such a funky cool vibe, covered in amazing graffiti and street art and there was even more art in the warehouses, some that are free to view and some you have to pay to get in. I saw a lamppost piled to the top with birdhouses, I saw a van stuffed with mannequin limbs, I saw a red crate covered in big black spiders but I was more interested in the street art to be honest and NDSM is the place to go to see some amazing street art. There are cool places to eat and drink and it's just a lovely chilled place to wander.