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June is festival season, and The Hague is the place to be. For the fifth anniversary of The Hague’s festival season, the city (and its seaside resorts Scheveningen and Kijkduin) will host a month of festivals and events. It all kicks off with the Royal Beach Concert in Scheveningen, where artists like Bryan Adams and Elton John will wow the crowds. The festival buzz doesn’t stop until Sunday 26 June, with Europe’s biggest free pop festival, Parkpop. Other festivals equally worth clearing your diary for in June include ShoppingNight on Thursday 23 June, which features a big catwalk in the middle of the shopping street and tips sent to your mobile phone about the best offers and the latest fashion trends. This formula is now so successful that other cities are coming up with their own variants. So the motto is: shop till you drop...
Jazzy tunes
But that’s not all. The Hague is a jazz city, as you can see for yourself: The Hague Jazz (17–19 June) just keeps getting bigger – so much so that this time, in its sixth year, it’s actually moving to the Kyocera Stadion where there’s room for even more jazzy tunes. Flamboyant diva Grace Jones is just one of the big names at this festival. Jazz’in de Gracht, on 24 and 25 June, is atmospheric and intimate: artists on flatboats will be bringing jazz, funk and blues to the quayside audience.
Beautiful sounds for bellies so round
Once again, the grand Hofvijver Lake, overlooked by the famous tower of the Binnenhof, will ring out to the sound of glorious classical music during Festival Classique (14–19 June). Our very own concerts will also be held again in a special location in the city, with the motto: ‘No gimmicks, just great music’. New this year is ‘Beautiful sounds for bellies so round’, specially for pregnant women – a harp music concert to calm both expectant mothers and their babies. Not wild enough for you? At the Prison Gate in The Hague (the Gevangenpoort) you’ll find Bach in the Big House. Maybe the best music by Johan Sebastian Bach comes from his time in prison...
Big names
In the month of June, The Hague Festivals will be the place to catch a bevy of big names: Bryan Adams, Golden Earring and Elton John on the beach at Scheveningen during the Royal Beach Concert; Jamie Cullum at Parkpop; and Grace Jones, Trijntje Oosterhuis and Duran Duran at The Hague Jazz. Whoever next?
At a glance
The Hague Festivals is a combination of over twenty festivals and events. The most notable among them are the Royal Beach Concert (4 and 5 June), ShoppingNight (23 June), Parkpop (26 June), Den Haag Sculptuur (The Hague Sculpture, 6 June–1 September), Vlaggetjesdag (11 June), The Hague Jazz (17–19 June), Festival Classique (14–19 June) and Nederlandse Veteranendag (Dutch Veterans’ Day – 25 June). For an up-to-date overview, click on www.thehaguefestivals.com.
The Hague Festivals
The Hague Festivals will be taking over The Hague for a whole month. The Hague festival season will show what the city has to offer. From classical concerts to night-time shopping. From rock bands to open-air exhibitions. From veterans marching to free pop concerts. From herring snacks to jazz legends. Feel free to celebrate!
