Amsterdam to draw up new location profiles for events and festivals

The City of Amsterdam will draw up new location profiles for festivals and events in the city, and will introduce a new subsidy scheme aimed at renewing and expanding the current slate of festivals and events. There will also be a new subsidy scheme aimed at renewing and expanding the current festival and event offering. Alderman Melanie van der Horst, who handles local policy for events, introduced the city’s vision for the next decade of special events in the capital during a presentation on Tuesday.

There are dozens of large events and hundreds of smaller events in Amsterdam every year, which together attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. “Most Amsterdam residents are happy with the range of festivals and events, but some also experience inconvenience. We are looking for new opportunities for a varied offering that is better distributed across the city and appeals to many different people,” said Van der Horst.

One in three Amsterdam residents currently experiences problems due to an event in a neighborhood. These complaints include issues related to noise, parking, and crowds.

The new location profiles for festivals and events will not be decided based on the number of visitors and the festival's goals, as opposed to how it was decided in the past. Whether the festival or event takes the specific location circumstances into account like safety, sound, mobility, and nature. “We are working on a new balance between liveliness and livability, between peace and hecticness.,” Van der Horst added. The alderman also wants to start an independent commission that will advise the municipal executive about the events calendar.

The municipality also wants more space for events and festivals. They claim that the struggle to find a location and the high costs make it difficult for organizations to start a new event or festival in Amsterdam.

The capital city wants to create more space for new events with a new subsidy scheme. They also want to research how they can reduce the organizational pressure and the costs for novice organizers. This is mainly meant to help free and smaller events due to “because of their accessibility to a broad audience,” the municipality added.

The principles for the 2025-2030 vision will be further elaborated after the summer. For now, the new events policy is planned to come into effect from 2026.