Canal Festival Amsterdam

Friday evening the Grachtenfestival (Canal Festival ) will start with a concert at a pontoon at the Kloveniersburgwal. It will be the 16^th edition of the classical music festival. This year the ten day event will host 228 concerts performed by in total 733 musicians. The theme this year is ‘Op reis’ (Traveling) and many music from far away countries can be heard. Actually, a large part of the musicians is from abroad and they come from more than 60 different countries. The Grachtenfestival, which started in 1998, tries to find exclusive spots for the many performances. Most concerts are performed on pontoons which lay in the canals. This year there will be also a concert on a cruise ship. The visitors of this concert have to take their passports with them because during the concert the ship will leave the territorial waters, so they will be traveling abroad! Besides concerts for the general public there are also various concerts and workshops for children, even for toddlers. One of the highlights is the Prinsengrachtconcert, which can be visited towards the end of the festival on August 24. The festival will be held from Friday August 16 till Sunday, August 25. Last years’ Canal Festival attracted about 53,000 visitors and also this year there are more than 50,000 visitors expected.