Netherlands

The Lowlands Festival is one of Europe’s most popular musical experiences and has been memorably described as a meeting between Glastonbury and Goa! With the picturesque full name of A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, this annual festival, held in the heart of the Netherlands, has become a central part of the summer calendar for thousands of music lovers.

The very first Flight to Lowlands Paradise was organized as far back as 1967 in Utrecht and although Pink Floyd were on the bill in the following year’s event, there had been so many problems that the project was abandoned. The current incarnation of Lowlands was inaugurated in 1993, when it was moved to its present location, the Walibi World Amusement Park in Biddinghuizen in the lowland province of Flevopolder. Since then, Lowlands has gone from strength to strength.

Although music is at the heart of the Lowlands Festival, there is also a comprehensive programme of good quality theatre, film, the visual arts and stand-up comedy which all takes place in the three main areas, on eight separate stages. Most of the stages, which are given names according to the phonetic alphabet, are inside huge tents – just in case the August weather becomes too unseasonal.

Each year, 60,000 music lovers assemble at Lowlands and they will be entertained by upwards of 200 separate acts. The line-up is always an impressive mixture of the industry’s most successful names and promising performers from across Europe. In 2009, for example, the list of acts playing at Lowlands included Arctic Monkeys, Dizzy Rascal, Kaiser Chiefs, White Lies, Lily Allen and Grace Jones; and many, many more.

Lowlands produces its own newspaper for festival goers, as well as a radio station and the festival site is surrounded by six excellently equipped camp sites, with showers, supermarkets and a 24 hour pub! There are also many food outlets on site, a market, sports facilities and chill out rooms.

Getting to Lowlands should present few problems. The nearest airport is Amsterdam’s Schipol but both Rotterdam and Eindhoven are within reasonable reach. The nearest train stations to the site are at ‘tHarde and Lelystad, from both of which it is possible to take free direct shuttle buses.

The Lowlands Festival takes place in August and tickets should be available around January or February. Full details of how to obtain tickets and the artists set to appear will be found on the official website. This fantastic musical extravaganza has deservedly built itself a reputation as one of Europe’s top festivals and, just a short hop across the English Channel and close to the party city of Amsterdam, it’s little wonder so many British fans join in the fun.

For more than 30 years, the North Sea Jazz Festival has been one of the liveliest festivals in Europe, brining the whole international world of jazz to Holland. After being held in The Hague since its beginnings in 1976, the North Sea Jazz Festival relocated to Rotterdam in 2006 and, incredibly, became even more popular – with visitors and artists alike.

The brainchild of jazz aficionado Paul Acket, the first festival set a standard that was to prove inspirational for the years to come, with more than 9,000 spectators. Now, during the second week in July each year, you can expect there to be around 70,000 of them – with about 1300 performers at fifteen first class venues, during the festival’s three days. It would be no exagerration to suggest that most of the jazz community’s greatest names have played the Festival at least once – Count Basie, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald and so many more.

The diversity of the North Sea Jazz Festival is such that, alongside the acknowledged ‘greats’ of the genre, the music on offer can cover a vast range of styles. It is common for blues, hip hop, soul, gospel – even drum and bass – to be showcased here. The performances take place simultaneously on the various stages within the festival venue – Ahoy. This impressive three – storey purpose built festival complex is a magnificent arena, allowing access between the various stages.

As well as concerts, however, festival-goers can be sure of a range of workshops, exhibitions, children’s activities and, of course, a plethora of food and merchandising outlets.

Although the festival itself is a three day event, it is always preceded by the North Sea Jaz Gala, which acts as an opening concert. Additionally, in what has become known as North Sea Round Town, visitors will find many jazz related events going on in the city itself before, during and after the programmed three festival days.

All of the excellent jazz on offer and traditional Dutch hospitality helped the festival to be voted ‘the best in Europe’ by the American Jazz magazine.

Tickets for the North Sea Jazz Festival normally go on sale at the beginning of May each year and are available on the festival website. It is possible to buy single day tickets, 3 day tickets and also tickets that gain admission to some of the ‘supplementary’ concerts held. As the programme is very detailed and such a lot of activities take place, visitors are advised to carefully select the ticket option that would be most appropriate for their particular needs.

Rotterdam, of course, is one of Europe’s most accessible cities – by sea and air. Ferry travellers can sail directly from Hull or alternatively go to the Hook of Holland which is only a short drive or train journey from Rotterdam. Although Rotterdam airport is quite small, there are some direct flights from the United Kingdom but the Schiphol airport at Amsterdam is only an hour away from the city by rail. Road links with northern Holland and northern France through Belgium are also very straightforward and many visitors to the city like to travel through the Cross Channel tunnel and then drive up.

The official festival website has links with hotels and hostels with which it has an association and there are many good places to stay in and around the city.

If you decide to travel to Rotterdam by car then you might still be advised to travel into the festival itself by public transport. There is limited parking around Ahoy but the venue is situated on more than 30 bus lines and is quite close to Zuidplein station on the Erasmuslijn on the subway system – which operates until 3.30 in the morning at festival time.

With some of the best jazz in the world – and in the country with some of the best beer – the North Sea Jazz Festival looks set to remain one of Europe’s favourite events.

Pinkpop Festival – normally just referred to as Pinkpop – is Holland’s best attended open-air music festival, with daily crowds of around 60,000 people. The festival has become known as Pinkpop as an abbreviation of Pinksteren Pop – Pinksteren being the Dutch word for Pentecost, when the festival traditionally takes place. The very first ‘Pop at Pinksteren’ took place on Monday, May, 18th 1970 at Geleen, with a campsite being introduced in 1976. After a brief stay at Baarlo, Pinkpop then moved to a former race track at the superb festival site now known as Megaland in the city of Landgraaf. In 1995, because of the demand for tickets, the organisers decided to hold the festival over two days and a further extra day was added in 1997. In 2007, a ‘spin-off’ festival was developed, later in the summer, known as Pinkpop Classic, which is aimed, as its name suggests, at ‘more mature’ rock aficionados and generally features bands that appeared in the early days of Pinkpop itself.

There are now three separate stages at the festival, which now always takes place from a Saturday to a Monday. Approximately forty acts appear throughout the weekend. Although usually held at Pentecost, in 2008 the organisers decided that the date was too early in the year for an outdoor festival and changed it for that specific festival only. Over the course of the festival, some of modern rock music’s best known names have appeared at Megaland. For example, Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, Madness, White Lies, Elbow and Keane have all recently performed here.

Most visitors to Pinkpop attend for the weekend, although it is possible to purchase day tickets, and the camp sites, of which there are four near the festival site, are all very popular. As well as showers, toilets and running water, there are on-site supermarkets, first aid points and a number of good food and drink outlets. Visitors who buy a weekend ticket can camp free of charge.

The Megaland festival site, in Landgraaf, is in the south of Holland, in the province of Limburg -approximately 135 miles from Amsterdam. The nearest airport to the city is the Maastricht Aachen Airport, from where it is easy to take a train from Maastricht to the NS station, Landgraaf. There are also connections from Landgraaf to Amsterdam and Brussels, the latter being ideal for those people who take the Eurostar. Once in Landgraaf, it is a 10 minute walk from the station to Pinkpop, although there are plenty of shuttle buses available which can transport you right into the heart of the site.
The Guinness Book of Records names Pinkpop as the oldest annual pop music festival which has run continuously and it certainly has continued to keep its prominent position at the very heart of the Dutch music calendar. As long as the name doesn’t tease you into expecting a bubbly, fluffy pink extravaganza, it should provide a great spring weekend.

Full details about the programme and availability of tickets at the Pinkpop Festival appear at http://www.pinkpop.nl.

One of Amsterdam’s most popular days of the year is the enormously successful Orange Festival which was traditionally a celebration of the Queen’s birthday. This enormous street party regularly attracts more than three quarters of a million visitors to the Dutch capital city. The Amsterdam Orange Festival is officially known as Koninginnedag, or Queen’s Day – and the whole of the country turns into an orange-coloured extravaganza – the House of Orange having been associated with the Dutch Royal family for many generations.

The abdication of Queen Beatrix in 2013 in favour of her eldest son Willem-Alexander means that King’s day has replaced Queen’s Day and will be celebrated annually on his birthday which is 27th April. If this date falls on a Sunday the celebration will move to the day before.

King’s Day celebrations begin early in the evening of April 26th when the whole of Amsterdam becomes a party area – especially the bustling areas around Dam, Rokin, Rembrandtplein and Damrak. It’s on Queen’s Day itself, though, that the Orange Festival finds its unique incredible rhythms. Everywhere you go it will seem that the whole world has turned orange as not only is everybody wearing the national colour but also there are enormously elaborate ‘sculptures’ made entirely of the fruit – some of these are breathtaking in their scale and imagination.

One of the features of the day is that, for the only time in the year, Amsterdam street trading is completely unregulated so wherever you wander you’ll see people selling all manner of items. It’s a great day for some bargain hunting. The Jordaan area of town is one of the best places to head at this time as there will be a plethora of traders, beer sellers and street entertainment all around. Head for the Vondelpark if you’ve got children with you as that’s where the young people set up their stalls and there’s lots of fun activities for them.

Late in the morning there is usually an outdoor rock concert at Museumplein, with similar events held in Waterlooplein, Leidseplein and on streets and squares all over the place. There are even dozens of party boats circulating around the canals, all adding to the atmosphere. Open-air Gay parties can be found at Westermarkt and Reguliersdwarsstraat, although, having said that, the whole of Amsterdam is a famously gay-friendly environment.

Amsterdam can, at times, seem a very crowded city and this is especially true during the Orange Festival. Despite this, the atmosphere is always relaxed, friendly and full of fun. Most people who come into the city do so by train as, once you’re there, you’ll find that the city centre is a completely traffic-free zone. There are good public transport services around the city, however. If you’re going to make the most of the day, remember to pack a good pair of walking shoes because you could cover a fair amount of ground during Koninginnedag. Although the atmosphere around the streets will be very relaxed, the police still don’t like people carrying lots of alcohol around with them, which is technically illegal, so bars impose a strict one drink per person ruling.

There is plenty of accommodation in the city of Amsterdam but most of it will be booked many months in advance of the celebration. If you’re thinking of attending, it’s absolutely imperative that you organise your hotel, hostel, apartment or camp site as early as you possibly can.

If you’re one of that enormous number of people who consider Amsterdam to be one of Europe’s best party cities, then the Orange Festival will help confirm all your ideas. If you’ve never been to Amsterdam before, then the Orange Festival would be one tremendous introduction.

One of the great things about festivals in Holland is that, for those living in Britain, they are amongst the most accessible in the whole of Europe. Add to that the fact that many of the Dutch festivals are in or near Amsterdam, and it’s easy to see why so many people like to combine a visit to one of Europe’s favourite tourist destinations with a few days at a festival.

And there are certainly some fine Dutch festivals from which to select. Some of the traditional local festivals can be quite spectacular. The festival at Brielle, for example, held each year on April 1st celebrates the town’s revolt against the Spanish rulers. A thrilling five scene play is dramatically enacted in various parts of the town – and the party in the evening is quite dazzling as well.

There is a long tradition of Christmas markets in Holland, running from the end of November all the way to Christmas Eve. One of the most unusual of these is the Gemeentegrot market in the town of Valkenburg; it’s unusual in that it takes place in caves that were in use in Roman times underneath the town.

Holland is, of course, often regarded as ‘the flower bed of Europe’ and its flower growing traditions are at the heart of many local and national festivals. Largest by far of these festivals is the Holland Flowers Festival at The Greenery in Zwaagdjik-Oost, in late February or March, where 150,000 separate tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths and many, many more varieties can be seen.

One of the festivals in Holland most eagerly awaited by the Dutch people themselves takes place on April 30th in most of the country’s towns and cities. Koninginnendag, or Queen’s Day, is officially a day of celebration of the birthday of the Dutch Queen Mother and the whole country turns into an orange festival site. With parades and parties, Queen’s Day festivities are enormous fun throughout the country but the largest party areas are in Amsterdam itself, which becomes a sea of orange.

Very different to the Amsterdam Orange Festival, and taking place in the city during June, is the multi-disciplinary Holland Festival, the oldest – and the largest – arts festival in the country. Theatre, music, dance, opera, film and the visual arts are all catered for in this series of events that regularly attracts performers and visitors from all over the world.

There are two highly successful modern music extravaganzas that also attract thousands of people to Holland each summer. The Pinkpop Festival is credited by the Guinness Book of Records as being the world’s oldest continuously running pop music festival and takes place annually at the excellent Megaland festival site at Landgraaf in the south of the country. Held at the end of May, near Pentecost on the calendar (Pinkpop derives from Pinksteren Pop, meaning Pop at Pentecost), 60,000 people attend each of the festival’s three days. There is, additionally, a Pinkpop Classic Festival, which generally features slightly more ‘mature’ groups and performers.

The Lowlands Festival is the other major modern music event in Holland, taking place at the Walibi World Amusement Park in Biddinghuizen each August. Attracting similar numbers of festival goers to Pinkpop, Lowlands also has an excellent programme of comedy, theatre and the visual arts. Together, Pinkpop and the Lowlands Festival represent high quality festival experiences, both in superb settings with excellent facilities.

For lovers of jazz music rather than pop and rock, the North Sea Jazz Festival, in and around Rotterdam, is three days of the very best of the genre. Indeed, the American Jazz magazine voted the North Sea Jazz Festival as the ‘best in Europe’, which, considering the ‘opposition‘, is a tremendous accolade.

The people of Holland have a well-deserved reputation of enjoying their lives to the full and the variety and quality of festivals in Holland is a tribute to their undoubted ability to be able to find any excuse to have a good time.