What's On In Amsterdam In August

During August, the final month of summer, Amsterdam’s cultural calendar features many larger, outdoor events that take place in the city’s parks, plazas and canals. These summery celebrations include several annual music festivals and many other events that revolve around open-air concerts, performances and of course, positive vibes.

WEDNESDAY 1ST – SATURDAY 11TH

Performances at Grachtenfestival take place on or around Amsterdam’s canals

Pride

📅 Saturday, July 28th to Sunday, August 5th
During Amsterdam’s weeklong Pride celebrations, the city hosts many different events that champion sexual diversity, ranging from colourful street parties to solidarity marches. An enormous canal parade takes place on the second Saturday of Pride week, which trails through the city’s central waterways and involves music, dancing and massive, waterborne floats.
📍Various locations

📅 Friday, August 10th to Sunday, August 19th
Every year in mid-August hundreds of classical music concerts are held at venues located inside Amsterdam’s historic canal belt, during an annual, ten day festival called Grachtenfestival. Many of the aforementioned performances take place on custom-built stages that are mounted onto barges and then set afloat on the city’s canals, whereas others are orchestrated inside prestigious concert halls like de Concertgebouw.
📍Various locations

Appelsap Fresh Music Festival

📅 Saturday, August 11th
This annual hiphop and RnB festival has taken place in Amsterdam-Oost since 2001 and ranks among the largest events of its kind in the Netherlands. Its line-up always features an impressive mix of established, international artists and famous, local talent, making it perfect for anyone who is eager to discover the Dutch hiphop scene.
📍Flevopark, Amsterdam

SUNDAY 12TH – SUNDAY 19TH

Pluk de Nacht

📅 TBC
Pluk de Nacht (translated as ‘Seize the Night’) is an annual, open-air film festival, that presents the latest and greatest offerings from independent cinema. The festival screens its selection on a rocky, peninsula near Amsterdam’s Centraal Station and shows a different movie every night, alongside several shorts. The festival doesn’t charge entrance fees and allows potential attendees to reserve spots online in exchange for small donations.
📍Het Stenen Hoofd, Westerdoksdijk 705-C, Amsterdam

World Cinema Festival

📅 Thursday, August 16th to Saturday, August 25th
Six different venues around Amsterdam host movie screenings during this annual film festival, including Vondelpark’s Open Theatre and VU University Amsterdam On the Roof cinema. The festival showcases independent films from Africa, Asia and South America and divides its programme into several sections related to specific themes.
📍Various locations

MONDAY 20TH – SUNDAY 26TH

Amsterdam’s Jordaan celebrates its musical heritage and culture during a neighbourhood festival in August

Uitmarkt

📅 Friday, August 24th to Sunday, August 26th

This weekend-long, performing arts festival traditionally heralds in the new cultural season in the Netherlands. Uitmarkt essentially serves as a springboard for the rest of the year and showcases work by local and international talents. The main festival takes place around Amsterdam’s Oosterdok harbour and always involves many different types of live performances, including concerts, dance shows and literary recitals. Other cultural venues also participate during Uitmarkt and organise free shows throughout the festival’s duration.

📍Oosterdok, Amsterdam

Jordaan Festival

📅 Friday, August 24th to Sunday, August 26th
As its name suggests this annual folk music festival takes place in Amsterdam’s picturesque de Jordaan and celebrates the neighbourhood’s heritage and culture. The festival started over 40 years ago and mainly revolves around forlorn Amsterdam-style crooning and other variants of traditional Dutch folk music.
📍Appeltjesmarkt, Elandsgracht 150, Amsterdam

MONDAY 27TH – SUNDAY 31ST

De Parade

📅 Friday, August 17th to Sunday, September 2nd
This roaming, performing arts festival moves between several other major cities in the Netherlands from July until August, before concluding its annual tour in Amsterdam. Its programme always features an impressive range of full-length and shorter performances, including outdoor dance pieces, avant-garde plays and family-friendly concerts.
📍Martin Luther Kingpark, Amsterdam

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