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Hello Reader, It’s an extra-long weekend for many of us this week, and there’s no shortage of fun activities to choose from around the city with festivals at Artis and Pampus Island, shows at Munganga and De Krakeling and a mini safari at De Ceuvel! Read on for our pick of the best family-friendly activities. Events happening this weekend Aardbewoners festival at Artis – 14-17 May The Aardbewoners (Earthlings) Festival is all about Planetary Health: the idea that everything on Earth is interconnected. Plants, animals, microbes… and us. If nature loses its balance, we all feel the effects. It’s like a game of Jenga. The more blocks you remove, the more unstable the tower becomes, until it finally collapses. We are one of those blocks. Without a healthy planet, there can be no healthy people. At the festival, you’ll discover how these connections work and what you can do to keep the tower standing strong. And there are some surprisingly fun ways to do it! Book your tickets on the festival’s website. Proef Pampus Festival at Forteiland Pampus 14-17 May Celebrate the long Ascension weekend on Forteiland Pampus (Pampus Fort Island) during Proef Pampus – the annual island festival for families, friends and island lovers. Across the island, you’ll discover music, performances, activities and a few surprises. This year, the festival theme is self-reliance. Discover youth theatre shows in the fort, help build a village, try your hand at sailing, and take part in craft activities with a self-sufficiency theme at the ProefLab. Check out the full programme and get your tickets on the Pampus Island website. Free Mini Safari at De Ceuvel – Sunday 17 May Mini Safari about songbirds with an expert – look with your ears! Free but please register beforehand on De Ceuvel’s website. Pirilamp concert at Munganga – Sunday 17 May Antionio Villeroey presents Troupirilamp, featuring songs for children specially composed by him and his daughters Luisa and Antonella, along with classics from the Brazilian songbook. Come and have fun listening to the stories of Hungry Bird, Pets Playground, Pirilampo, and Little Farm while reflecting on themes such as sustainability, responsible water use, and recycling. Get your tickets for this fun family-friendly concert on Munganga’s website. Klop Klop Boem Boem dance show at De Krakeling – Sunday 17 May Knock knock, who’s there? Boom boom, what’s that I hear? Klop Klop Boem Boem is a rhythmic dance concert for the whole family, an ode to the heartbeat. Three performers dance, drum and sing whatever their hearts tell them to. You don’t just hear it; you see the rhythm moving through their whole bodies. Klop Klop Boem Boem is a journey that begins playfully and lets our heart’s deepest desires resound ever louder. Get your tickets on De Krakeling’s website. Rollende Keukens food festival at Westerpark – 14-17 May The famous food truck festival returns to Westerpark this long weekend. It gets very busy so go early if you want to avoid long queues! Find out more on the website. Ongoing & Upcoming Events Waanzinnige Boomhut show at DeLaMar theatre (in Dutch) – Monday 25 May This brilliant family show, packed with madcap humour and magical theatrical wizardry, is back! Waanzinnige Boomhut is based on one of the best-selling children’s books of recent times, The 13-Storey Treehouse. A visual comedy for the whole family, bursting with energy! Get your tickets on DeLaMar’s website. Volunteering with Serve the City Serve the City is a volunteering organisation offering flexible options for volunteers to give back. On Saturday 13 June, join Team up to Clean up the Vondelpark! You can also join clean-ups in other areas, cook for the homeless and other community activities. For a full list of events, view the calendar on Serve the City’s website. Dag Van het Kasteel (Castle Day) 22-25 May Romantic relationships, marriages of convenience, forbidden affairs, unexpected friendships and unconditional love for a child: in 2026, love is the theme of Castle Day. Behind the walls and gates of Dutch heritage sites, you’ll find stories of secret meetings, marriages of convenience, and families that stayed together – or fell apart. This year, we’ll show that castles, estates and country houses are places full of passion and emotion, then and now. Who loved whom? Which bonds proved stronger than time? And how has love – in all its forms – shaped the history of these special places? Find out more on the website. Lepeltje Lepeltje Festival at NDSM Werf – 22-25 May From 22 to 25 May, the NDSM shipyard will be buzzing, with delicious food from around the world and music by live acts and DJs. There’s also plenty for kids to do, with fairground rides as well as a clothes and toy swap. Visit the festival website for more details. Parents Corner A’DAM tower’s 10th anniversary – 13-17 May The iconic tower turns 10 and celebrates in style with club nights, roller discos and more. Check out the full programme on A’DAM’s website. London Calling at Paradiso – 15 & 16 May Discover up and coming artists who might just turn out to be the next big thing at the Paradiso. With The New Eves, Panic Shack, Marlon Funaki and more. Check out the schedule on Paradiso’s website. Deep Fake by Downstage Left at Badhuistheater 28, 29 & 30 May What happens when a lie walks into your life? Two guesthouse owners are surprised by the return of an old friend and employee, Tara, who they haven’t seen in years. But something is wrong. Why does Tara seem so different? And why do the other guests react so strangely to her? Set in a sleepy seaside tourist town on the east coast of England in the 1990s, Deep Fake echoes the dangers and personal costs of the mis- and disinformation that are so prevalent in the world today. Get your tickets on Badhuistheater’s website. Inline skating around Amsterdam – ongoing Every Friday night at 20:30, you can join a 20 km loop through the city with a crew leading the way. Entry-level routes take place once a month and are preceded by a skate clinic to hone your skills. Find out more on Friday Night Skate’s website. We endeavour to include everyone and are happy to mention events connected to all special holidays/festivities. Please email us with events/celebrations you want us to mention. AM will make the ultimate decision on what to publish. A team of volunteers compiles this newsletter, and we would welcome some new colleagues on the team. Are you interested and do you have a few hours to spare every few weeks? Please contact Amsterdam Mamas for more information at info@amsterdam-mamas.nl. This Weekend Roundup was compiled by Dominique Broady. The above information is given to the best of our knowledge and ability, but please check the event links to confirm details. These are often events that the Amsterdam Mamas cannot personally recommend from experience but are provided as a starting point to help you find activities that are a good fit for your family. If you have seen any upcoming events that we should know about, please let the newsletter team know by replying to this email. Thanks, and have a good weekend! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. |
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