Visit the Amsterdam Light Festival

The months of winter are long and dark… Yet the Amsterdam Light Festival is a shining beacon that will illuminate those dark winter evenings. During this annual festival, international light artists light up the city! The route that leads you to all the artistic light sculptures runs through the Grachtengordel (the Amsterdam Canal District) and can also be viewed by boat tour. Pedestrians have also been considered and a walking route has been laid out on the east side of the canals with an equally impressive spectacle of light to be seen. The theme of this year’s Amsterdam Light Festival is ‘Friendship.’ The festival runs from 28 November 2015 until 17 January 2016.

Water Colors boat tour

This Amsterdam Light Festival boat tour will take you through the 17th century canal district over the Oosterdok, Herengracht, Nieuwe Herengracht, and the Amstel river. The way in which this stunning bit of Amsterdam heritage is illuminated by the light sculptures is something you won’t want to miss! Boat tours depart daily between 5 PM and 9:30 PM (with the exception of New Year’s Eve) from boarding locations near Amsterdam Centraal railway station. A boat tour lasts 75 minutes and you can make a booking through the official Amsterdam Light Festival website.

Illuminade walking route

The bonus of this festival walking route is that it is free and suitable for both young and old. This walking route is open to everyone from 10 December 2015 until 3 January 2016 and takes you past twenty light art installations in the culturally-rich neighbourhoods Weesper and Plantage. These light art installations have been designed especially for the festival and include light projections on historic buildings, dynamic light installations in city parks, and works that you can literally walk through.

For more information about the Amsterdam Light Festival and booking a guided walking tour or Water Colors boat tour, visit the official Amsterdam Light Festival website.

Photo by Winston Chen on Unsplash