In late May, The Dam Square is filled with book stalls and an outdoor pop concert.

This year is the 14th Annual Cannabis Cup – and the theme is – 2001 A SPACED ODYSSEY. The Cannabis Cup is the event of the year for many who visit Amsterdam to sample the wonderful selection of Dutch marijuana and imported hashish from around the world. The High Times staff puts together a wonderful line-up of entertainment and events to keep you happy, high and dancing your feet off.

This year there will be performances by “Tha Liks”, “Los Marijuanos”, “Magma”, Dub Clash between “Dub Scientist” and “Mad Professor”, “Rocker T”, “The Five Points Band” and this year’s Featured Cup Band, “311”.

The usual smoking, meetings at 4:20 p.m. in the Melkweg, Parties nightly, daily events at the Pax Party House (exhibits and booths) will round out the festivities.

See our report of the 1997 Cannabis Cup to get a better idea of what goes on there.

To get your Judge’s Pass go to https://www.420tours.com/.

In 1998, Amsterdam was the site of the Gay Games, an olympic style event. It was well attended by gays from all over the world, and special activities were scheduled in the evenings. One of the highlights was a parade of boats on the canals through the city. Unfortunately, the city of Amsterdam lost a lot of money on the deal, and it’s unlikely this event will play here again.

A 26 mile (42 km) run around Amsterdam draws 1500 runners and another 10,000 for a 6 mile stretch. This event takes place the last Sunday in September.

The Dutch are crazy for their football (soccer) teams. In Amsterdam the city’s team is called Ajax (pronounced eye-yaks). They are one of the best in Europe and can be counted on to give a good show. If you want to make friends with the Dutch you can’t miss by turning out for a game!

And now the Admirals, play American style football at the Arena. They’re becoming very popular with the locals. Another sign of the Americanization of the Dutch.

Music, theater, dance and film festival from Africa and other non-western countries.

In mid-April the state run museums in Holland offer free or heavily discounted admission. A good time to take in some art and culture.

This world famous music event takes place in Den Haag, a half hour from Amsterdam by train. Top artists from around the world converge for a weekend of great jazz in mid-July.

A good time to catch Jazz, blues, reggae and world music at the end of May. De Melkweg and other venues host the event.

Please visit their website for more details on this years show!

www.drumrhythm.com

If you enjoy classical music, you might want to check this out in August. Several canal boats act as a stage in the Princengracht canal for a live concert. A very unusual, but typically Dutch event, it takes place in front of the Pulitzer Hotel. This is part of the much larger Grachtenfestival of diverse music performances on the canals around Amsterdam.

Music lovers jam the surrounding streets and squeeze into the canal itself. The Princengracht becomes blocaded with boats full of partygoers eating and drinking to the accompaniment of wonderful classical music floating across the canal.