Music

Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is the most famous in the country, and thus tickets are hard to get for any of their performances, but it’s worth the fight because their reputation is richly deserved. There are many other orchestras based in Holland’s cities, and the general quality is very high, as it that of the opera which is also widespread and popular. Every year there is an internationally renowned music festival in Amsterdam, which has been running since 1947. For something a little different, there is there the North Sea Jazz Festival, which is the biggest and most renowned jazz festival in Europe.

Visual arts

Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer, Van Gogh and Mondriaan are names which resonate with lovers of visual art all over the world. Some of the best examples of their work can be found in the national galleries of Holland’s many museums and art institutions. There is also a strong modern art scene as well, in which the traditions of the past masters are kept alive.

Dance

Probably nowhere else in Europe is as important in the field of modern dance than the Netherlands. The Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT) in The Hague enjoys an international reputation; there are also many high quality, but less well known modern dance companies throughout the country. As far as ballet is concerned there is the more contemporary leaning Scapino Ballet in Rotterdam as well as the more traditional National Ballet in Amsterdam. To top all this off there is also the biennial Holland Dance Festival in The Hague and the Springdance festival in Utrecht.

Film

There are some big film festivals which take place in the Netherlands every year. These include the Rotterdam International Film Festival (February), Amsterdam’s the World Wide Video Festival (April) International Documentary Film Festival (December), and Utrecht’s Dutch Film Festival (September). There is also a small Dutch film making industry which produces about twenty or so films every year.

Archaeology

There are over 1,800 monuments on 1,500 sites which are protected by state as they have been deemed of significant archaeological importance. Some of the most important sites include megaliths in Drenthe, prehistoric dwelling mounds in Friesland and Groningen, as well as the island of Schokland, which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.