Video: Queen Máxima opens North Sea Jazz Festival as it celebrates 50th anniversary
Queen Máxima opened the 50th edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival on Friday at Rotterdam Ahoy. The three-day event will run through Sunday, July 12, and is expected to draw around 90,000 visitors overall. This year's festival features more than 150 performances by about 1,300 artists across 17 stages.
Road construction is taking place in parts of Rotterdam, and heavy traffic is expected around Ahoy. The organizers, therefore, urge visitors to use public transport if possible.
This year’s lineup includes John Legend, Sienna Spiro, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, and Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest. Other featured acts include The Isley Brothers, The Roots with special guests Bilal and Jon Batiste, and Youssou N'Dour.
The festival started on Friday with Máxima’s opening ceremony. Afterward, she received a tour of the festival grounds as the first artists began performing.
North Sea Jazz started in The Hague at the Congresgebouw, with six halls, 300 artists, and nearly 10,000 jazz fans. Three decades later, the festival moved to Ahoy, where it grew into a major international music event. A new agreement signed two years ago ensures the festival will remain at Ahoy through at least 2031.
Festival doors open daily at 2:30 p.m. Performances then begin each day no earlier than 3 p.m. and continue until shortly after midnight. To mark the 50th anniversary, each festival day will end with the NSJ50 Afterparty. Questlove was the DJ on Friday, with Gilles Peterson taking over on Saturday. Anderson Paak, performing as DJ Pee.Wee, will close the festival on Sunday.
Organizers are warning visitors about heavy traffic around Ahoy, so using public transport is advised. Visitors traveling from Rotterdam Centraal by metro can take line D toward De Akkers or line E toward Slinge to Zuidplein station. Ahoy is about a five-minute walk from the station. The RET transit operator will run longer metro trains that will continue operating late into the evening.
Visitors arriving by car are advised to check their routes because road construction is taking place in several parts of Rotterdam. Parking at Ahoy’s main lot is only available to those who purchased a valid ticket with parking guarantee in advance.
Drivers without a parking guarantee may be able to park at the Waalhaven Zuidzijde parking garage and use a free shuttle bus to Ahoy. The shuttle service will also return visitors to the parking area until one hour after the festival ends.
If Waalhaven Zuidzijde is full, visitors can try parking in the Waalhaven industrial area by navigating to Parmentierplein and using the shuttle bus from there. Parking may also be available near Oldegaarde.
Other options include regular parking garages in the surrounding area or using park-and-ride facilities. Visitors can travel easily to Ahoy from the Slinge and Meijersplein locations.
