Fun, Films & Flowers in Amsterdam

Fun, Films and Flowers in Amsterdam.

Spring is the best season to visit Amsterdam. The grey skies lift and the rain lightens as Amsterdammers start to emerge from their dark bars and homes, blinking in the sunlight. Overrun by tourists in the summer months, the shoulder season iswhen savvy travellers come to partake of the revelry of Amsterdam in April.

There is a range of festivals held in the city to kick start the retum of warmer weather, ranging from street parties to film and art exhibitions. Koninginnedag, Queen's Day Festival Held on the 30th of April, Queen's Day festival is a 24 hour long street party held to celebrate the House of Orando tho curront Dutch rovaltu Tho fotivitior dart Amstelveld.

The streets of Amsterdam overflow with almost half a million peo ple dad in orange. Amsterdammers go all out in wigs, glitter, shoes, face paint and balloons and street art, street performances, discos and concerts are held on every corner of the city. The celebrations include a free market the one day of the year that residents do not require a license to sell goods.

The drinking and dancing isnot restricted to dry land. Party boats ply their trade up and down the canals. Noise and merriment fill the streets. Traditionally, law and order are Suspended for just one day and Amsterdam drinks, dances and carouses till dawn.

Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Amust for geeks, technophiles and film buffs alike, the Fantastic Film Festival is an eleven day fantasy, horror, sci-fi, thriller, anime and cult movie marathon. The Festival attracts its fair share of die-hard fans, who often come dressed up as their favourite characters from the films. This annual film fest started out in 1984 as the Weekend of Terror and eventually grew to become a week lon festival. Held at Tuschinskitheater, a beautifully restored 1920s art deco building, films include the newest releases, as well as classic works and entries, come from all over the world.

The website afff.nl has listings of what's showing. More than just the sum of its seventy over films, the festival has a of new features, a retrospective, a theme programme, European short films and a children's program. Three awards are handed out during the festival.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is self-explanatory and the Silver Scream Award is for the most popular film. World Press Photo Exhibition The best of global photojoumalism debuts in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam's oldest church from late April and stays on till June. The photos then go on a travelling exhibition around the world; however it startshere in Amsterdam.

The World Press Photo is a Dutch organisation founded in 1955 and is committed to supporting the work of professional press photographers. An annual contest is held and the prize winning photographs. The website world pressphoto.org lists current exhibition locations. You can also order annual yearbooks and browse competition categories online.

Springtime Tulips The Netherlands have been associated with tulips ever since the bulb was introduced to the region by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The tulip trading mania of the 17th century has long abated, but the flower remains a quintessential Dutch symbol.

In the spring, the fields just outside of Amsterdam blossom into carpets of pink, red, orange, yellow and purple blooms as the tulips emerge from winter's frost. Within the city itself, visitors go to the Bloemenmarkt, the flower market in the Southern Canal Belt, for a dose of flowery finery. Founded in the 1860s gardeners used to sell flowers in a floating market on the Amstel River in this area.

Most vendors sell bulbs rather than cut flowers, but during the spring there are tulips in every sort of color imaginable for sale. Slightly further afield, visitors can also head to the Keukenhof Gardens, which are only open for two months every year, usually from early March to May.

This park in Lisse, South Holland, is an easy train and bus ride away from Amsterdam. The 8 million tulips are the biggest drawcard here, but there are more than just tulips in the Keukenhof Gardens; lilies and dahlias also share space with the more showy blooms. You should allow two hours or more to visit and another two hours for a bicycle ride or drive.