Events & Festivals

The streets and canals of Amsterdam will once more host the ninth Amsterdam Light Festival this winter, from 10 December, 2020 to 3 January, 2021.

The theme for this year’s exhibition is “When Nature Calls”.

Due to Covid safety regulations this year’s festival can only be seen by foot as the boat tours have been cancelled.

The ninth Amsterdam Light Festival was due to consist of a Light Walk. However, on 5 November it was announced that the Light Walk had been cancelled due to Covid concerns. There will be some lightworks in the city. Details of what will be on display can be found at the organiser’s website.

Light Walk

This has now been cancelled. Stroll through Amsterdam city centre, crossing famous squares and hidden gardens. Receive photos, videos and audio messags from the festival’s creative director Lucas De Man direct to your smartphone via WhatsApp. In this way you will discover about Amsterdam and nature, as well as light art.

The interractive walk will allow you to decide whether you learn more about light art or the city of Amsterdam itself and its rich history. Organisers promise it to be both informative and humorous.

Timed tickets need to be booked via the event website. The two-kilometre Light Walk will take an hour and will take place throughout the festival from 4.30pm to 9.30pm, except for New Year’s Eve when it will conclude by 8pm. Visitors should remember to bring their charged smartphone and earphones.

All the artworks exhibited this year have been realised with the help and collaborative efforts of festival partners, from the municipality of Amsterdam to commercial organisations and elementary school children.

Tickets will go on slae at the end of October.

Amsterdam Light Festival 2020 Dates

The festival starts on 10 December, 2020 and runs through to 3 January, 2021.

For another light festival of a different kind, check out Hanukkah Festival of Lights in December.

Flights to Amsterdam

Getting to Amsterdam by plane is simple. EasyJet have flights from both London Stansted and London Luton airports. Alternatively, you can take the train, with Eurostar running a direct service from London St Pancras to Amsterdam that takes 3 hours and 41 minutes, although most trains do go via Brussels.

Amsterdam Hotels

If you are looking for accommodation in Amsterdam during the festival, enter your dates in our flight and hotel comparison engine to search hundreds of sites for the best deals:

Things To Do in Amsterdam

For an idea of things to do in Amsterdam, why not read Mark Bibby Jackson’s Amsterdam Things To Do: Festivals and Culture. Alternatively you can visit the I Amsterdam website.

Cover photo: Absorbed by Light, courtesy of Amsterdam Light Festival.