Amsterdam still young at 750

Woven with canals, parks, coffee shops and museums, Amsterdam rarely fails to intrigue and entertain. And the next 12 months promises to be some of the most action-packed in the Dutch capital’s history as it kicks off a year-long celebration to mark the 750th anniversary of the city’s founding. Here are five stand-outs from its diverse calendar of events.

A MUSICAL TIME MACHINE

Temperatures may be cooling as the Netherlands moves deeper into the northern autumn, but there’ll be plenty of heat inside the Ziggo Dome for the start of this elongated birthday bash. Usually playing host to international mega-stars like Madonna and Diana Ross, the 17,000-capacity arena will turn the spotlight on household and up-and-coming Dutch talents on October 27 (if you happen to be in Amsterdam then, tickets are still available via openingsconcertamsterdam750.nl). Pop singers, jazz orchestras, ballet dancers and electro DJs will be among the performers telling the city’s story as the venue turns into a “musical time machine”. Complementing the tunes will be the ISH Dance Collective, a thrilling troupe of hip-hop dancers, skaters, acrobats and freestyle footballers. The Ziggo Dome, incidentally, is located next to the city’s main soccer stadium, which is home to Ajax Football Club and named after Johan Cruyff, arguably the greatest of all the fantastic footballers born and raised in Amsterdam.

WINTER WARMTH

The cold, dark days of winter typically sees Amsterdammers hunkering down in cosy cafes for toasty tipples and comfort food or warming up by gliding along the ice (either at rinks or on the canals if they’ve frozen over and developed a sufficiently thick coating). Also helping to raise pulses and brighten moods come winter is the Amsterdam Light Festival, which will be staged from November 28 to January 19, 2025. Illuminated installations will appear across the city, with nods to the big birthday and this year’s theme “Rituals”. One way to embrace the festival is on a heated canal boat, where you’ll have an audio tour or live commentary as the artworks come into view. You can also check out the installations on a 6.5km self-guided walk using the festival app.

SUMMER VIBES

There’ll be quite a contrast in daylight hours and Celsius levels on June 21, 2025, when traffic is cleared from the A10 motorway that rings 15km around Amsterdam so a big dawn-to-dusk party can take place. The Summer Solstice event is still very much in the planning, but bank on it being a colourful cornucopia of live bands, DJs, outdoor theatre and street food. Meanwhile, celebrated over four weekends in July and August, the Kwaku Summer Festival will be back for its 50th anniversary in 2025. A whirl of dance, music, film, sport and cuisine, it has its roots in the culture of Suriname, a former Dutch colony on the Caribbean coast of South America. The festival is held in Nelson Mandela Park, close to the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam’s south-east.

SAIL AWAY

Already accustomed to welcoming ocean and river cruise ships from across the world, Amsterdam will witness a procession of over 800 attention-grabbing vessels from 24 countries for the launch of SAIL Amsterdam (August 20-24). Expect a flurry of multi-masted tall ships to quaint little schooners — some of which you’ll be able to hop aboard for a look around when they dock near Centraal Station. For more nautical art, exhibits and history, visit the nearby National Maritime Museum. By the jetty outside, you’ll see a striking replica of Amsterdam, an 18th century cargo ship of the Dutch East India Company. Another waterfront museum worth seeking out is the H’ART Museum. Formerly the Hermitage Amsterdam, it’s staging “Happy Birthday Amsterdam”, an exhibition profiling the work of 75 artists, past and present, who have lived, worked or passed through the city (December 4 - March 16, 2025).

CELEBRATING AMSTERDAM’S WOMEN

Men typically get the credit for much of Amsterdam’s development, including Floris V, Count of Holland and Zeeland, who — sometime around October 27, 1275 — issued a decree allowing the fisher folk living by the Amstel River toll-free access to his domain. Evolving into Amsterdam, the settlement grew into an international trading hub with (male) seafarers and merchants venturing out to establish ports across the globe and returning home to splash their fortunes on the grand houses that mushroomed by the city’s burgeoning canal belt. But women have also played a huge part in Amsterdam’s story. While you’ll be familiar with Anne Frank — her old house is among the city’s top tourist attractions — countless other females have left their mark on the Dutch capital. Their stories will form part of an exhibition (December 14 to August 31, 2025) at the Amsterdam Museum, which currently occupies a wing of the H’ART Museum while its permanent home is refurbished. Accompanied by a podcast series, the exhibition is driven by contributions from Amsterdammers, who have been leaving “odes” to women with connections to the city. One is Jakoba Mulder, a pioneering urban planner nicknamed “Mejuvrouw van het Bos (Miss of the Forest)” because she helped design some of the city’s beloved green spaces, including Amsterdamse Bos — which is three times larger than New York’s Central Park. The museum is also compiling a book about these inspiring women which should be published sometime around October 27, 2025 — 750 years after Amsterdam’s first recorded mention. Details are sketchy right now, but that day the city will put on a big concert to round off the birthday celebrations.

fact file + For more information on Amsterdam’s 750th birthday events, see amsterdam750.nl

+ To help plan a trip to Amsterdam, and use it as a springboard to explore more of the Netherlands, see iamsterdam.com and holland.com