Amsterdam Hotels, Amsterdam City Hotel, City Hotel Amsterdam

Current Events November

1) Museum Night Amsterdam (Museumnacht) [On Saturday night in a first week of November each year ]
Each year in November, when Amsterdam nights become colder, on one Saturday night, all museums in town as well as some other cultural institutions, turn into the one big festivity scene. It all starts at 7 p.m. ends at 2 p.m. There is a lot of entertainment at all the participating institutions – music, dancing, singing, and eating. Each museum tries to invent new attractions. When the Museum Night ends, so called after parties follow at clubs and hotels as Club 11, Bitterzoet, Hotel Arena, Melkweg, Odeon, W139, Sugar Factory.
Museumnacht exists for almost ten years now. The event is addressed mainly to the Dutch public, but even without Dutch friends to go with; you should meet a lot of new people and have fun. Usually one special concert opens the whole night – for example in 2007, it has been held at the newly opened Stadsarchief.
Be sure first to have a look at the Museum Night program (there is an English version) – you will have to select from many parallel events. If you intend to participate in the events beyond the Museumplein area, a bicycle might be indispensable. Plan your route hours earlier; leave some room for transfers and the unexpected.
Timing: from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. on the first Saturday in November of each year
Venues: 42 museums in Amsterdam. Practically all museums participate

2) pAn Amsterdam – Art and Antique Fair [ Third week of November ]
This is one of the most elegant fairs in Amsterdam. For one week the usually dull Amsterdam RAI exhibition hall, turns into an elegant interior with a lot of light, plushy carpets and many interesting antique objects. Amsterdam Art and Antique Fair - shortly pAn, exists for almost ten years and each year presents more than 120 antique dealers of reputation from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, with their collections. Dutch antique merchants are known for their ability to dig up interesting quality objects, not only in their own country, but all over the world.
As last years modern art and especially photography, become an interesting investment, pAn Amsterdam includes in its offer increasing number of contemporary art works.
The feel: pAn is an elegant, formal and a bit snobbish occasion, especially on the opening evening. Dress up and stay focused on what you like, especially if you intend to buy something. Peacefully accept your place in the line for a glass of champagne, as even the superior spheres sporadically happen to be crowded. The pAn fair is a great fun to visit and to observe, as you may look not only at the exhibited art, but also at many interesting visitors.
Timing: full week in the second half of November each year. pAn 2007: 18-25 November; pAn 2008: 23-30 November.
Venue: Parkhal of the RAI congress and exhibition center.
Open: daily from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

3) Shadow festival, Amsterdam [ End of November each year ]
A small film festival in Amsterdam presenting creative and experimental documentaries. The programming is very selective, presenting films characterized by an “unusual cinematographic form, extremely direct tone, and strong visual imagery”.
After each show, a discussion takes place with the film director and the participation of the public. The character of the discussions is free and informal. As with the selection of films, the accent is on the exchange of the new ideas.
The Shadow Festival organizes also lectures about creative documentary filmmaking, usually given by one or two of the participating directors or television programmers commissioning documentaries.
Among the directors participating in the Shadow Festival in the previous years were Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa, Polish documentary director Jacek Bławut, American photographer and filmmaker Allan Sekula as well as Israeli, Japanese and Chinese film students with their first films.