Amsterdam's festival year runs from spring to autumn: DGTL opens it at NDSM, Dekmantel takes over the woods on the city's southern edge in summer, and Amsterdam Dance Event closes it with a week of clubs in October.
Festivals · Amsterdam
The season starts in spring at NDSM Docklands, the old shipyard across the IJ in Amsterdam-Noord, where DGTL runs a weekend of house and techno from midday until eleven at night. It is known for its sustainability rules as much as its lineups - zero waste is the aim, single-use items stay at home and the food is plant-based - and it draws a crowd that treats the industrial setting as part of the point. The free ferry from behind Centraal Station is the usual way over. In August, Loveland takes over Sloterpark in Nieuw-West for a weekend of dance music by the lake.
Midsummer belongs to Dekmantel. The festival stages its main days in the Amsterdamse Bos, the large forest park on the southern edge of the city (technically in Amstelveen), with extra programming in venues across Amsterdam in the days around it. Expect electronic music in the wide sense - techno, house, disco, experimental - played to a crowd that comes for the selectors rather than the headliners. Most people cycle there; a bike and a rain jacket cover most of what can go wrong on a Dutch summer day, because showers can arrive with little warning even in late July. For something completely different, the Grachtenfestival fills the city with classical music and jazz in August, from concert halls to spots along the canals.
In October the whole city turns into one festival during Amsterdam Dance Event: a conference by day and hundreds of club nights, label showcases and warehouse parties by night. Mood has a dedicated ADE guide for that week. Outdoor festivals are day events that end around eleven because of noise rules, so the night often continues at an afterparty in a club. The list on this page shows the festivals and festival-scale events we currently have on sale in Amsterdam, and it grows as each season's editions are announced.
DGTL at NDSM Docklands in spring, Loveland in Sloterpark and Dekmantel in the Amsterdamse Bos in summer, the classical and jazz Grachtenfestival in August, and Amsterdam Dance Event across the city's clubs in October. See Mood for the editions currently on sale.
Outdoor festivals run roughly from spring to early autumn, with the densest weekends in July and August. October brings Amsterdam Dance Event, which moves the festival crowd indoors into clubs and venues across the city. Mood lists what is coming up now.
Dekmantel is in the Amsterdamse Bos on the southern edge of the city, and most visitors cycle there. DGTL is at NDSM Docklands in Amsterdam-Noord, reached by the free ferry from behind Centraal Station. Check the latest travel details with your ticket on Mood.
