Our new website can be found at broadcastamsterdam.nl!
The new website has a built-in radio player and lots more info about our new internet radio station for Amsterdam. (But we still have videos and blog posts too, btw. )
The pages at broadcastamsterdam.wordpress.com will remain, for now, as an archive only.
Local businesswoman, Monique Erinna, visited the Spark 2017 conference for female entrepreneurs and spoke with attendees, and the founder of Spark, Hannah Huber, to find out more about this vibrant and growing network in Amsterdam. www.sparkwomen.eu
+ Also featuring an original song composed and performed especially for Spark by Eva Ellingsworth, www.facebook.com/evaellingsworthmusic.
The next Spark conference is on Tuesday 27 March 2018 and other events are also scheduled.
This audio report will also be shared on rotation Broadcast Amsterdam’s beta radio station during February and March 2018.
What’s on? Amsterdam | Feb 2018
Wed 14 Feb | Valentine’s Screening @ LAB 111
The film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, compliments the Mannenliefde beer from the local Oedipus brewery for this brotherly love-in.
18 Feb | Art Battle @ Pllek | The Art Battle® comes to Amsterdam. It’s a live, competitive painters’ evening when painters create the best they can within 20 minutes. Painters bring their own brushes and tools, but the paint and canvases are already there. The audience vote for their favourite and the paintings are auctioned off at the end of the night. A bar and DJ adds to the fun. Register in advance to enter the competition.
19 Feb | Belle & Sebastian @ Carré theater
The Scottish indiepop band just released a new EP in January, so expect to hear some tracks from How to Solve Our Human Problems, Part 2. So some dreamy stuff with ‘I’ll be your pilot’ or a bit of fun with ‘Cornflakes’ . This Amsterdam gig also includes, a local viola player, Anna Smith.
23 Feb | Kendrick Lamar @ Ziggodome
The critically acclaimed rapper with a few platinum-selling albums to his name. The most recent, Damn, earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Tickets are still available, last time we looked.
24 & 25 February | The Maker Market @ The Maker Store in De Hallen
A weekend given over to sharing “young, innovative brands” that are locally designed and/or made. If you are a local “maker” and want to be part of the market, you can sign up at themakerstore.nl
28 Feb | The Killers @ Ziggodome | The American rock band are back in town again for what is always a good show. We love the drummer and his dedicated wind machine the best.
We’re now sharing a BETA version of our new radio station.
Broadcast Amsterdam is launching an internet radio station!
HELP! If you have a minute, please help us plan the best radio station ever by completing this ultra short survey.
We plan to bring you …
Sign up to our email list to stay updated and hear about opportunities to get involved or share events.
A local news roundup for Amsterdam, shared in English.
Jan 2018 | week 1
Het Parool newspaper has issued a useful guide for Amsterdammers listing all the changes coming in from 1 January. Here’s a few examples …
Old scooters banned | The city’s environmental zone has been expanded which means older scooters from 2010 can no longer enter the city. Until April offenders will just get a warning but after that they will be introducing fines.
No more smoking on the ferry | The ferries across the IJ will become completely non-smoking from 2018 onwards, even on the outside decks.
Clean taxis | From 8 January, only taxis that run on green gas or are completely emission-free (such as electric taxis or cars powered by hydrogen) can use the ranks at Amsterdam Central Station and Leidseplein.
Bike lane ban | We’ll have to wait a bit longer for the long-awaited ban on scooters from the city’s bike lanes (probably autumn).
Reports for Booking.com rentals | Amsterdammers who rent their homes out as holiday rentals through Booking.com, must now report this to the municipality. It must not be longer than sixty days per year and not to groups of more than four people.
Bike stables first 24 hours free | The city has increased the free bike parking available in popular spots, including at the Pathé de Munt, Paradiso, Zuidplein, Station RAI and Vijzelstraat. It’s free for the first 24 hours, but if you leave your bike for longer that will be charged at €1.25 per day.
Letterbox advertising needs yes stickers | From now on, only letterboxes with a ‘yes / yes’ sticker on it will get advertising brochures through their doors. It’s estimated that this should save about 1.8 million kilos of paper, or about 6000 trees.
Playgroup fees introduced | Nearly 200 free ‘peuterspeelzalen’ (playgroups) in Amsterdam will now become commercial childcare organisations, where parents must pay a fee ranging from €5-250 per month, the amount depending on your earnings. All toddlers between 2.5 and 4 years are entitled to a minimum of fifteen hours at a ‘peuterspeelzalen’, spread over three days. Parents will not be required to stay there with their child.
Tourist tax up and down | Hotels in Center, South, East and West are going to pay more tourist tax (so now 6%) but in other areas it will drop to 4%, with the intention of encouraging a better distribution of tourists across the city.
The weather outlook | The first storm of the year will be crossing the Netherlands on Wednesday with heavy winds expected between 11am and 4pm. A code orange has been issued for Noord Holland, including Amsterdam . By the weekend it should be drier and sunnier. (Courtesy of BBC weather and weer.nl)
Links & sources …
For more on these stories, see the links on our Pinterest News board.
We filmed a pop-up play; an original, local drama, ‘A Dreary Night in November’, a ghost story set in Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. A first for us!
In 1816, Lord Byron and his friends had a ghost story competition, which is when Mary Shelley dreamed up her classic gothic novel, Frankenstein.
200 years later, one dreary November night in Amsterdam, some gallery visitors stumble across Lord Byron, Mary Shelley & friends, and get a ghost story of their own.
Performed by Mulholland Academy and Dept of Acting (mulhollandacademy.com).
Logistics of a pop-up play: “We’d settled on the Library room at Foam as the perfect location, but shortly before our event the space was filled with an installation: a giant wooden structure filled with products from China. This left us with a dark corner under the stairs. The challenge I think paid off for the dramatic effects, but it did limit the size of the audience to max 15 people at a time; meaning that the actors had to perform the piece several times during the evening. It was a bit of a logistical nightmare for the whole event, limiting the number of guests. It would be nice in this case, with your film, to be able to share the little play with a wider audience.“ Karen Haggarty
Why? The pop-up performance of ‘A Dreary Night in November’ on 19 November 2016 was organised by Karen Haggarty and Claudio Tapia and raised €400 for the refugee charity, Stichting Vluchteling.
(‘A Dreary Night in November’ will also broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 1 TV channel on 16, 17, 23 & 24 November 2017 – see salto.nl.)
A local news roundup for Amsterdam, shared in English.
AUDIO
VIDEO
week 38 | shared 21 Sept 2017
The city of Amsterdam has seen an outpouring of gratitude and sadness as the Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan finally steps down due to his illness | From messages on the municipality’s website, to an organised applause outside his house; Amsterdammers let their feelings about their popular mayor known. Van der Laan announced the news in a letter to all Amsterdammers and urged people: “Take care of our city and of each other.” The deputy mayor Kasja Ollongren will step into his role for now.
Eighteen childrens’ farms in Amsterdam have agreed new principles for the welfare of their animals | The city in turn, has made an extra €530,000 available to them, to be spent on housing, education and security.
As a judge upholds Geerte Piening’s fine for urinating in public, the feminist outcry continues | ‘Caught short’ one night in Leidseplein, after all the bars had closed Geerte said she had no option; in Amsterdam there are 35 public restrooms for men and just a few for women. The judge maintains that she could have used a men’s urinal. On Facebook nearly 8,000 people have shown an interest in protesting this idea, and Geerte is hatching her own plan to fix the situation. Expect a demonstration …
Not one but two Amsterdam office buildings have won international architecture awards | In Noord, the HQ of buggy company, Joolz, renovated an old industrial hall and in the Houthavens, the European HQ of Calvin Klein & Tommy Hilfiger sits at the end of a pier.
The local green party, Groenlinks, have shared their draft election program, which includes some big asks | They want to ban cars from the city centre, including Mauritskade, Stadhouderskade, and Nassaukade. GroenLinks also says cars users should lose privileges, such as cheap parking and immense space. 10,000 parking spaces should be converted into bicycle parking spaces, they say. [Hang on, did they say “cheap parking”?] According to Het Parool, other eye-catching policies announced by the party include decolonising school books, banning Zwarte Piet from the city, allowing the city to buy the debt of those in financial need, and banning consumer fireworks.
Hotspots for bike jams have been documented by Het Parool | With up to 60 metres trailback on the bike paths up to Museumbrug where Centrum meets Zuid, 48 metres at De Clercqstraat and Bilderdijkstraat in West, and 20 metres at Czaar Peterstraat and Sarphatistraat in Oost, bike jams are a real headache at rush hour, the paper shows. One expert says simply making the cycle path wider will not solve the problem. So what will?
The new look Rokin is now open | After two years of construction work, the new boulevard was unveiled. More walking space has been added, new trees have been planted, and there are plenty of terraces for those sunny autumn days.
Research has shown that a bike bridge between Zeeburgereiland and Sporenburg would not result in many more motorists or tram 26 passengers changing to bike travel. Het Parool reports that as most travelers head to the eastern and southern sides of the city, a new bridge towards Centraal Station would not make much difference. The €140m price tag was also felt to be too high and there would be an undesirable effect on the quiet area of Sporenburg (which faces KNSM-eiland). The municipality has said that further research is necessary and there may be other options to explore, such as a cycling tunnel to Sporenburg.
A top Amsterdam hotelier speaks out to defend the industry | Remco Groenhuijzen, the director of the luxury hotel Sofitel Legend The Grand, has said to Het Parool that he is “disturbed” by the one-sided image locals have of the hotel industry. “It is in the interests of every hotelier that the city is alive” he says. He also believes that the sudden growth in the number of hotels may have affected the perceptions of Amsterdammers on the issue.
Speaking of which …
A new Asian-themed hotel on the Geldersekade gets the green light | A new hotel can only be built in the city centre if it has a unique new concept and local residents objected to Kin-Ping Dun’s plans. However, a recent ruling has found that the property owner’s dream for a asian-hotel, and studio for asian artists, meets this requirement.
Heads up | Some things in Amsterdam are destined to get sold out, so here’s a heads up for tickets you might not want to leave to the last minute.
🌤 And here’s our latest weather outlook for Amsterdam courtesy of BBC weather and weer.nl
Sunny intervals forecast for the weekend, and hardly a drop of rain. Expect a sunny day on Sunday when the temperatures may reach as high as 20 degrees.
For more on these stories and sources, see the links on our Pinterest News board below.
A local news roundup for Amsterdam, shared in English.
AUDIO
VIDEO
week 37 | shared 14 Sept 2017
The Deputy Mayor addresses the effects of tourism and expats on the city | Kajsa Ollongren, says in an interview with Het Parool that although the city is doing well, she wants it to be for everyone. “My greatest concern is affordability and accessibility,” she says and identifies the housing market as key to this. She’s particularly concerned for families and those on middle incomes. On expats, she says: “It’s good for the economy when companies come to Amsterdam, which creates jobs, also for Amsterdammers … this city is built on people who come here …”
Amsterdam budget could move to flights to Lelystad | The Deputy Mayor has also confirmed that her party strongly supports the development of Lelystad Airport. With the idea that budget flights and night flights could move to Lelystad while Schiphol keeps the high-value and business flights.
The massive Hudson’s Bay store is now open on the Rokin | The Canadian store offers mid range stuff, that may or may not fill the gap left by the V&D and OMG it’s open until 21:00 everyday. Even Mondays. Until 17 September there’s also “the Netherland’s first” pop-up Power Nap Station … The brainchild behind this literally says “We want to make people realise that you can do so much more on a mattress than just sleeping.” Uh huh! (It’s not just Amsterdam. The Hague, Rotterdam, Leiden and Almere will also have a Hudson’s Bay.)
!WOON, a tenant support agency has opened a free helpdesk at the WTC Amsterdam | Their experts offer confidential advice on rental contracts, tenancy disputes, liaising with landlords and more. !WOON is funded by the City of Amsterdam and the helpdesk is based at the IN Amsterdam office (formerly known as Expatcenter Amsterdam), open on Fridays from 12:00 until 13:30. It’s a walk-in service, no appointment necessary.
Increase in international school places underway | Following the rising demand for access to international education, the City of Amsterdam has made some progress with three new schools and several expansions, within Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, ready for the new school year this September. The new international schools are in Amstelveen, Haarlem and Haarlemmermeer. Several existing international schools (in Hiversum, Almere and AICS in Amsterdam) are also now able to offer more primary or secondary school places. But this is just the start of what they call the “Delta Plan”.
Local photographer, Sam van Dam, aka AmsterSam, has sadly passed away | Known for his artistic photos of Amsterdam as caught in the reflections of puddles, mirrors and shop windows and an active supporter of new artists, our thoughts are with his many friends and family. An informal meeting in memory of Sam will take place this Sunday 17 Sept at Cafe Schuim on Spuistraat at 17:00.
Noord has two new skateparks | On 15 September, the Flipperkast skatepark opens on Buikslotermeer square and at the eastern waterside, near the ferry to Azartplein, you can now find the indoor Skatepark NOORD.
For more on these stories, see the links on our Pinterest News board.
And here’s our latest weather outlook for Amsterdam courtesy of BBC weather and weer.nl
More rain this weekend, but some sunshine too. Expect dry mornings but some heavy showers in the afternoons. Sunday is the best bet to be clear. Temperature no higher than17 degrees.
Coming soon, an interview with local illustrator Rachelle Meyer about her Faces on the Ferry project.
#inpost #watchthisspace
On the 11th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … an outtake clip about a special rabbit, an Amsterdam rabbit ▶︎
An outtake from our visit to the The Open Draw, at Cinetol on one of their Monday night drawing sessions.
See also our full feature interview on The Open Draw: https://youtu.be/b7NXz04lK4o
LINKS:
http://www.theopendraw.com/amsterdam/
This outtake has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 9th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our exclusive chat with pastor-entrepreneur, Ruben van Zwieten ▶︎
An interview with Ruben van Zwieten of De Nieuwe Poort in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a community centre for “reflection and meeting”.
This feature was first broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 1.12.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and is now released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
LINKS:
denieuwepoort.org
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 8th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … a young world traveller who likes to give tips ▶︎
Young adventurer, Kim Berghout, tells our SO DAM LOCAL chat show host all about her travels and how she share advice and tips through her blog vrouwopreis.nl and a series of campfire travel workshops in Amsterdam.
(First broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 24.11.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and now released as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.)
LINKS:
vrouwopreis.nl
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 7th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our exclusive interview with a guy who’s at the heart of the smart city roll-out: Tom van Arman of the start-up, Tapp.▶︎
(First broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 24.11.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam. produced by Broadcast Amsterdam and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
LINKS:
tapp.nl
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 6th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our chat with Net in Nederland about their project that shares Dutch TV with English and Arabic subtitles online.▶︎
A chat with the team behind Net in Nederland, an online project to share Dutch TV with English and Arabic subtitles for refugees and other newcomers.
This feature was first broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 10.11.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 5th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our interview with Helena Verhagen of Holland Festival, who gives us a sneak peak of the highlights to expect in 2017. Includes some very sweaty dancers.▶︎
This feature was first broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 1.12.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 4th day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our exclusive new video of Rhizome House, one of the most striking installations of the Amsterdam Light Festival 2016.▶︎
We learn about Rhizome House, one of the most striking installations of the Amsterdam Light Festival, from its lighting designer, Kevin Sturrock of DP Architects.
(This feature was also broadcast on Salto TV during the Christmas period as part of Broadcast Amsterdam’s local television programming, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.)
LINKS:
https://amsterdamlightfestival.com/en/light-art/water-colors/rhizome-house/
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 3rd day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our video of a very special local dog walker ▶︎
Our SO DAM LOCAL team met Tessa from Dharma Dog (dharmadog.nl) and got to know why her dog walking service is a little different. And of course, we also joined Tessa and the dogs for a walk around Vondel Park.
This feature was first broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 1.12.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 2nd day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … a bloody mary dumpling demo from Pinch▶︎
Our SO DAM LOCAL team met up with Megan Vasco, founder of Pinch, an Amsterdam food pop-up specialising in fusion dumplings. Megan shows us how she makes their special Bloody Mary Dumplings and shares the exciting next steps for her business – getting stocked in the local supermarket. (Part #2 of two interviews with Megan.)
This interview was first broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto 2 TV channel on 1.12.16 as part of SO DAM LOCAL tv show, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
On the 1st day of Christmas, Broadcast Amsterdam gives to you … our new video of the Vintage Santa Tram ▶︎
We pay a visit to the Vintage Santa Tram, a Christmas event run by Amsterdam Mamas every year. A vintage Amsterdam tram takes children around the city and gets back in time to visit Santa and more.
(This video was also broadcast on Amsterdam’s Salto TV channel during the Christmas period, produced by Broadcast Amsterdam, and has been released online as part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration.)
© Broadcast Amsterdam 2016
We released 12 new videos for Amsterdam to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas …
🎁 On the 1st day of Christmas ▶︎ the Santa Tram video
🎁 On the 2nd day of Christmas ▶︎ a Bloody Mary dumpling demo
🎁 On the 3rd day of Christmas ▶︎ a local dog walker-whisperer
🎁 On the 4th day of Christmas ▶︎ Rhizome House lights up the city
🎁 On the 5th day of Christmas ▶︎ a Holland Festival sneak peak
🎁 On the 6th day of Christmas ▶︎ Dutch TV … in English
🎁 On the 7th day of Christmas ▶︎ Tom van Arman talks smart cities
🎁 On the 8th day of Christmas ▶︎ a world traveller, Vrouw op Reis
🎁 On the 9th day of Christmas ▶︎ a preacher man in Zuidas
🎁 On the 10th day of Christmas ▶︎ a local Luistervink harvest
🎁 On the 11th day of Christmas ▶︎ An Amsterdam rabbit outtake
🎁 On the 12th day of Christmas ▶︎ A Staatsliedenbuurt story
Broadcast Amsterdam 