Amsterdam Light Festival
- Monika
- Nov 19, 2015
- 2 min read
It is the dark rainy, gloomy, sad...November again...Especially in The Netherlands you can use some cheering up events to "survive" this part of the year. Of course you are looking forward to Sinterklaas and Christmas...but there is something else out there. If you are not interested in the warm and delicious oliebollen or the appelflappen (you should be though, they are yummie) or the - let us be honest - cheesy Christmas decoration in the crowded main shopping street (Kalverstraat)....From the 28 November until 17 January you can visit the Amsterdam Light Festival.
It is a quite young festival (a believe it was first introduced to the public in 2013) which is getting better and better and more and more interesting every year.
It is not just a collection of lightened up items hanging above the kanals in Amsterdam, but also a platform for young talents to show their works in public.
You can choose from taking the suggested walking route (or an other route, or just part of it if you like) or taking a boat to have the best view and the to get most out of this gorgeous experience. Not only the kanals, but the parks and the bridges are also "taking part" of the event, and activities (for example the "Amsterdam light run" or the "Light my ride" biking event) are held as well. The colours are bright, the designs are inventive and you can just forget the weather for that couple of hours and feel yourself as Alice in (modern) Wonderland.
My husband and I picked the perfect (dry and relatively warm) evening to check out a part of the festival. We decided to walk around and not take one of those boat routes, mostly because I wanted to take photos and I did not want to rush or fight for a spot to get a good shot.
We went on a lovely Sunday evening, and we started in an area where you were able to check out more works close to each other. Every item has its own background story, which makes it easier to understand artist(s) and their purpose, but of course, you are more than welcome to see something else into them. :) (You can read about the projects and their designers on the festival's official website: https://www.amsterdamlightfestival.com/en ) The Hortus Botanicus, The Botanical Garden had an illuminated path among its labyrinth. It had a charming feeling to it, especially when you saw the families with little children, Moms with buggies, elderly couples. It is really an event for everybody, small and big, and Amsterdam is a perfect spot for this festival, because of the special effects what the kanals add with its reflecting water surface.
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