|
|
|
In June there are many theatre performances, country fairs, pop festivals, free concerts by the sea and in many parks, flower festivals, many new exhibitions, to name but a few..... plus an Amsterdam update. The annual giant sculpture exhibition held in The Hague, this year marks the Queen’s 25th jubilee. Not to be missed for Maritime enthusiasts, ’Sail Amsterdam 2005’ only every 5 years on KNSM Island, Amsterdam.
NEWS FROM AMSTERDAM
Jazz centre Bimhuis reopens. On 20st Feb. the new Bimhuis opened their new building along the IJ. (The river behind the Central Station.) It is the Netherlands’ most important jazz stage. The famous Bimhuis is now located just East of the Central Station. The Bimhuis shares the building with the new "Contemporary Music Centre". You find all information at the website of the Bimhuis.
|
|
Bicycle taxis to stay in Amsterdam. Bicycle taxis that now operate in the centre of Amsterdam are allowed to stay. These taxis were on trial. As citizens and tourists appreciate them the Amsterdam authorities have now decided to let them operate. The bicycle taxis are actualy modern tricycle vehicles. Passengers and cyclist are covered against rain. 30 bicycle taxis are operating in the Amsterdam city centre.
|
|
High-tech Hotspotting. The guide book has been updated for the digital generation. Visitors to the city can now get connected to a database of real-time Amsterdam information, thanks to the newly-opened Timespots Shop at the VVV tourist office across from Central Station. Here you can rent a wireless hand-held pocket pc with access to a constantly updated city guide, maps, and a database of information, as well as facilities to make phone calls and take photos to send back to friends and family. The Timespots device looks unobtrusive and stylish: a flat, silver rectangle, not too much larger than a mobile phone, with a touch-sensitive screen, it is easy to use; "we show customers how to use it in 30 seconds". That said, the majority of customers so far tend to already be technologically savvy: familiar with the internet and mobile phones, educated, and under 50 years old. Nevertheless, customers vary from high-flying business people, to budgetting backpackers, and Timespots has proved to be popular with both single travellers and couples. Rented out at 15 euros for 24 hour use, the devices are quite affordable
|
|
Open air concert Concertgebouworkest will not be held in the open air. The traditional open air concert will be held this year inside the Concertgebouw and not on the Museum square in front of the building as the management of the world famous orchestra considers the building of a stage for the open air concert too expensive. The open air concert took place outside for the past 17 years, sometimes in rainy weather. The concert is still for free. Works by Verdi, Mendelssohn, Paganini and Prokofjev will be performed. The Concertgebouw is near the Van Gogh Museum. The event takes place on June 17 at 9pm. Getting there early is essential.
|
|
The Lure of the East - Pasar Malam Besar |
|
Malieveld, The Hague
June 8 through 19, 2005
From June 8 through 19 2005 the Pasar Malam Besar will take place on the Malieveld in The Hague. Visitors will come from all over the world, including Belgium, Germany, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Largest Eurasian Festival
Everyone who visits the Pasar Malam Besar in The Hague for the first time is surprised. Since the first small weekend fair in The Hague Zoo in 1959, the event has grown to become the largest Eurasian festival in the world. For twelve days the Eurasian culture and its global context are put in the spotlight on the 20,000 m2 festival site on the Malieveld.
|
Vollenhoven Country Fair The gardens of the family-owned (and family run) manor house Vollenhoven will be open to the public for just three days in June. There’ll be plenty to explore: an orangery, a pear garden, a sunken garden (unchanged since the 1920s and designed after the great English landscape architect Gertrude Jekyll), extensive kitchen gardens and lush parklands, too. Buy jams, chutneys, homegrown produce and country-life goodies at the country fair or take part in one of the many workshops or demonstrations. Accessible by bike from Utrecht train station. Huis Vollenhoven, de Bilt (Utrechtsweg 59), nr Utrecht, June 25 to 27 030-220 00 32, www.landgoedvollenhoven.nl
|
Floral 2005 Homes and garden event in the grounds of the magnificent neo-Gothic castle De Haar, with model gardens, collections of rare plants, and presentations by well-known growers, as well as a special focus on homes and interiors. Kasteel De Haar, Haarzuilens, June 17 to 26 www.fleurig.nl
|
|
Haarlemmerhout Festival
Date: 19 June 2005
Frequency: annual
Location: Haarlemmerhout park
This free multi-cultural festival was first held back in 1983 and so has been around for more than twenty years. Attractions include many different kinds of music from all over the world, theatre productions and a children’s festival. The festival has grown in recent years and is almost a tradition in Haarlem nowadays, drawing in youngsters from all over Holland. |
|
Exhibition in the Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
Bye Dad ! See you tomorrow Jewish Children rescued from the Day Care Centre To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from the Nazi occupation, the Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam) is holding a major exhibition highlighting the extraordinary story of the Jewish children smuggled out of a day care centre in suitcases, rubbish bins and prams by resistance groups, thus saving them from certain deportation. Bye Dad, see you tomorrow narrates the personal stories of the children and their rescuers, and paints a powerful picture of their experiences, through film images, personal objects, documents and photographs. The exhibition is suitable for all ages. In Dutch and English. Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam Plantage Kerklaan, May 3 till Nov. 27 020-620 25 35, www.verzetsmuseum.org
|
|
DE PARADE
De Parade is a two-month mobile theatre festival with performances that take place in tents. Like a fair or a circus, de Parade has been touring the Netherlands and abroad for 13 years, descending on the nicest parks and squares in town. De Parade is the only travelling theatre festival in the world and has been set up like a circus turned inside out, with the audience in the centre and the artists around them. The result is an irresistible live panorama of theatre, dance, music, art, entertainment, magic, curiosities, attractions and shows. This colourful collection of theatre tents, fountain tents, the chairoplane and the global restaurants make the de Parade festival site resemble an old-fashioned fair ground.
Every year the de Parade programme is like a refreshingly theatrical maze. The public can choose from a selection of performances usually produced especially for de Parade and shown simultaneously on the festival site. The length of the shows varies from three to sixty minutes. Every performance is repeated several times each night. There is also an extensive children’s parade. In this way, everybody can plan their own day full of culture, art, theatre and music.
’Holding a parade’
The programme is made up of dozens of programmes and attractions. The artists try to influence the public by presenting free and attractive de Parade acts on the stage in front of their tents, like the bonisseurs (showmen) who used to draw the public’s attention to their shows at the annual fairs in the Middle Ages. Their act was called ’holding a parade’.
De Parade has it origins in the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, an international travelling theatre festival that toured from 1984 to 1987.
Museum Park, Rotterdam
June 15 through 26, 2005
Westbroekpark, The Hague
July 1 through 10, 2005
Park Nieuweroord, Utrecht
July 15 through 24, 2005
Martin Luther King park, Amsterdam
July 29 through August 14, 2005
|
July 1, 2005 - Concert by the Sea 2005
Residentie Orchestra meets Ali B and Paul van Vliet
Although you could already call it tradition, the 2005
Concert by the Sea to be held on 1 July comprises
mostly new features. A new conductor, a new and
informal organisation and, of course, guest
performers, including rising star Ali B and singer
Paul van Vliet. A tried and trusted element is the
combination of the seaside location and the sounds
of the Residentie Orchestra, occasionally
accompanied by the cries of a seagull. Tickets are
already on sale, so don’t wait too long.
Scheveningen, The Hague |
|
The Hague Open Air Sculpture
During the summer months, sculpture lovers can browse to their heart’s content among the many different sculpture locations in The Hague and Scheveningen. From the serene and refined Museum Beelden aan Zee to the fun Sandsculptures in Scheveningen. In one of the most beautiful and leafy lanes of Europe, the Lange Voorhout, the annual The Hague Sculpture exhibition draws visitors from all over the world. This year the theme will be ‘The Palace Garden’ coinciding with Queen Beatrix’s 25th Jubilee. This will explore the rich cultural wealth of the Dutch. The exhibition starts on June 7 until September 4. A tour can be organised in English for a maximum group of 20 people, cost €40, to reserve a guide tel 06 42 10 9757. Otherwise stroll freely among the sculptures, which are also illuminated at night. For information www.denhaagsculptuur.nl
|
|
Sail Amsterdam 2005 – March to December 2005
Main event 17th to 22nd August 17 2005
Amsterdam City on the Water, Amsterdam
KNSM Island, Amsterdam.
Sail Amsterdam is a unique maritime event organized once every five years. A great many Tall Ships dot the harbour. Sail 2000 featured a spectacular naval parade of 30 Tall Ships. The four-masted ships were welcomed into Amsterdam with lots of bands playing along the quay.
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
During the Sail event hundreds of other ships can be admired. The program also offers a range of cultural activities. Some examples of what was on during Sail 2000: a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, street theater, performances by well-known bands. The weekend was reserved for a tour through the canals of Amsterdam by weird and wonderful vessels made by groups of amateurs. Various artists performed during the weekend nights.
HIGHLIGHT
The final day of the Sail event, Sunday, is traditionally the highlight. It features an impressive parade of historical ships, followed by performances by orchestras and the Band of the Royal Marines. Each Sail day is concluded with spectacular fireworks. It might seem a long way off, but if you would like to be a part of this splendid nautical event, you know where to come to in 2005!
March - December 2005
A great number of events are due to take place - one of the main events is Sail Amsterdam 2005, one of the biggest maritime manifestations in the world. Other big events are the Canal Festival (August) and Aqua Musica (May). VVVAmsterdam.
This summer, the Parade festival will present a - more than ever -lively collection of contrary ideas diametrically opposed to the prevailing culture of orderliness. After a year packed with standards and values, the shows that the Parade artists present to the public seem rougher than ever. The 2005 Parade will present a wide-ranging diversity of art forms: theatre, film, dance, music and entertainment. This will all be mixed with the classical forms of fairground attractions and circus acts, kitsch and old-fashioned cheerfulness.
|
|
|
|
|
