Pitch Festival- Amsterdam

Amsterdam, a city of narrow cobblestone streets, wide canals, half naked women and a liberal attitude to soft drugs, a haven for style and trend of all ages. Being lucky enough to go and not only experience all aspects but having the opportunity to go to a festival in such a free spirited city was truly amazing.

Before departing for my holiday I did all the research on the best museums, coffee shops and even found that there was a zoo (yes a zoo!), to my excitement we departed only to get there and do nothing on my list. For anyone that has been to Amsterdam you know how easy it is to get sidetracked people watching, mixing coffee shops and a lot of walking around is not a good idea (top tip- know how to ride a bike before going it would save ALOT of energy).

Breakfast spot

Pitch Festival is rarely new having only started in 2011. It promises an independent mix of the most new and progressive acts in the electronic music scene. After hearing about the 2 day festival from friends who had been the previous year it seemed like mixing the festival and holiday together was a great idea, having a few days to explore and one full day listening to music, sitting in the sun and experiencing everything that the festival had to offer. 

Queues were long to get in...

The festival took place in Westerpark a short walk from Amsterdam city centre. The park itself was huge, and queues to get in were long but went quickly depending if you held a day ticket or a weekend ticket (the day ticket queue is easiest to push to the front of shhhh!). As soon as you entered you were taken aback by how small scale the festival actually is (compared to other festivals such as Reading), this played to its advantage making it more intimate and friendly.

Plenty of fun things to do...

The atmosphere was good all throughout the day, walk ways were adorned with fairy lights and bunting, wooden platforms were covered in bean bags and there was plenty of places to sit, eat and drink. The only cons were the weather got colder as the day went on and I stupidly forgot to take a jacket and that the process of having to pay with tokens bought with money instead of just paying with money got annoying after a while, especially if your prone to losing things like me. 

seating areas in amongst reeds...

walkways...

places to sit and eat...

The line-up for the Friday consisted of Massive Attack, Little Dragon, SBTRKT and more. All of the music was good in their different individual ways, showing the diversity of the music available at the festival itself. Little Dragon was a chilled 'lying on the grass watching the sky' atmosphere while SBTRKT was a laser show in a packed sweaty room, with a queue of 20 minutes just to get inside. Massive Attack being the headliner ended the day perfectly by being a once in a lifetime opportunity and a way to mellow out. Between acts we spent the time mainly wandering around, showing up to places only for everyone around us to leave and laughing at women with werewolf esq hairy legs for an hour (yes they actually exist).

SBTRKT

Massive Attack

In all I had a euphoric day of laughter and the constant feeling of being stuck in a kaleidoscope each time I took of my sun glasses. For anyone who loves fashion I'd highly recommend this festival as its a hub for Hollands most fashionable, depicting a different type of festival style to that of Britain. The only advice I have for future visitors of the festival is to dress to impress and remember a jacket!

my festival honeys, hope you had an amazing birthday Katie!!

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