Essentially Amsterdam - Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Tuesday August 18, 2026

Good morning, Amsterdam. Today: Schiphol taxi drivers weigh a strike, Wilco play Paradiso, and four acrobats work a seven metre tower in the Bos.

Schiphol taxi drivers say new rules have cut their income: Drivers without a Schiphol contract say the airport’s changed dispatching rules have made it much harder to get enough fares. A strike planned for last week was called off, and they are weighing whether to stop work after all.

NS is adding 169 extra carriages for the September rush: The railway will lengthen trains from next month to absorb the annual return of students and commuters, which reliably makes September the busiest month on the Dutch network. Extra staff are in place too, which has not always been the case.

Schools start the year with new core targets for Dutch and maths: The first rewrite since 2006 became law this month, and it lands as schools in the north go back. There are fewer targets for Dutch but each is described far more concretely, which is meant to give teachers something firmer than the vague 2006 version.

Amsterdam has a full time heat coordinator, and this was her busiest summer yet: Eline Coolen works at the GGD keeping vulnerable residents safe through tropical days, in one of the very few Dutch municipalities to fund the role full time. The budget is small enough that fifteen fans reached a neighbourhood team by metro on a coffee cart.

The Bosbaan is ready for the world rowing championships: A year of dredging and repairs has the course in the Amsterdamse Bos ready for a championship starting on Monday, with 40,000 spectators expected. The restored boathouse stays with the city rowing clubs afterwards.

Uitkijkers: acrobatics seven metres up in the forest: Four acrobats work a seven metre climbing tower in the open air, in a circus piece built for families rather than for specialists. It runs nightly through Saturday, so a rained-off Tuesday is not the end of it. August 18, 18:20, Bostheater, Amsterdamse Bos. 📅 Family Show

Summer holidays at Het Scheepvaartmuseum: The maritime museum runs its summer programme all day, indoors and out, with workshops and boat trips alongside the permanent ships. Useful on a day the forecast is against you. August 18, 10:00-17:00, Het Scheepvaartmuseum. 📅 Museum / Educational

The Makery at NEMO: build something with your hands: NEMO’s workshop space gives children three hands-on techniques drawn from 19th century invention, which in practice means making things that work rather than watching a screen. August 18, 10:00-17:30, NEMO Science Museum, Oosterdok 2. 📅 Kids Workshop

Boek op Schoot: storytime for toddlers aged 2 and up: Half an hour of picture books read aloud for the very young, free and drop-in. In Dutch, which is the point if you want your toddler to hear it. August 18, 10:00 – 10:30, OBA Bijlmerplein. 📅 Story / Reading

English storytelling at the OBA: The library’s multilingual series runs an English language session for young children, free and without booking. Worth knowing about if the Dutch sessions are a stretch at home. August 18, 10:00 – 10:45, OBA Roelof Hartplein. 📅 Story / Reading

Wilco and Hovvdy at Paradiso: The Chicago band have been making unhurried, awkward, beautiful records for thirty years, and they are in the main hall with indie pop duo Hovvdy opening. August 18, Doors: 19:00, Support: 20:00, Main programme: 21:00, Paradiso. 📅

VINOCIO: jazz, hip hop and soul at Bar Contra: A small room, a mixed bill and a wine list, which is a more forgiving way into live jazz than a concert hall. Runs to half past ten. August 18, 20:00, Bar Contra, Amsterdam. 📅

SOULJAMZ at Bourbon Street: Live soul and funk in the Leidseplein basement that has been doing this for decades, starting late and running later. August 18, 23:00, Bourbon Street. 📅

Open-air cinema: Frida in the H’ART Museum courtyard: Julie Taymor’s film about Frida Kahlo, shown outdoors in the museum’s courtyard on the Amstel. Bring a layer, the evenings have turned. August 18, 20:00, H’ART Museum, Amsterdam. 📅 Film

Zarna Garg at Boom Chicago: The New York comedian built her act on immigrant family life and has two specials behind her, performing in English at the Rozengracht. August 18, 20:30, Boom Chicago. 📅 Comedy

Films with a View: My Neighbor Totoro at Pllek: Miyazaki’s gentlest film on the beach at NDSM, screened once it is properly dark, with the IJ behind the screen. August 18, 21:30, Pllek, NDSM Wharf. 📅 Film

The Odyssey at LAB111: An afternoon screening in the old pathology building in West, which remains the most atmospheric room in Amsterdam to watch anything. August 18, 16:15, LAB111. 📅 Film

Muziekquiz at De Kring: The artists’ society opens its music quiz to the public, which is a rare chance to get inside the building without knowing a member. August 18, 20:30, De Kring. 📅 Social Activity

Board game night at Cafe 2 Klaveren: A games cafe, a shelf of boxes and a group that welcomes people who have never played anything more complex than Uno. August 18, 18:45, Spelletjes Café 2 Klaveren, De Clercqstraat 136. 📅 Games / Hobbies

Practical photography workshop on the Marineterrein: Two and a half hours on composition and light, held outdoors on the old naval grounds, aimed at people using a phone rather than a rig. August 18, 11:30 – 14:00, Schietbaan Pleintje, Marineterrein. 📅 Workshop

Umami taste club at Mediamatic: Mediamatic’s fermentation people run a tasting session on the fifth taste, which at their premises means something closer to a laboratory than a restaurant. August 18, 18:00, Mediamatic. 📅 Tasting

Tiramisu workshop at La Bottega by Chiara: You make it, you eat it, you take the method home. Ninety minutes, in English, small group. August 18, 18:00, La Bottega by Chiara’s Food. 📅 Class

Double Skin / Double Mind open dance classes: Emio Greco’s training method, taught as an open class rather than an audition, so previous experience is welcome but not assumed. August 18, 19:00, Space for Dance Art (Westbeat). 📅 Class

Adyen took 41 million euros from the Innovation Box tax break last year: Research into annual reports puts the Amsterdam payments firm alongside Organon at 71 million and Wolters Kluwer at 27 million among the scheme’s biggest beneficiaries. The criticism that most of the benefit reaches very few companies is not new. Business News

Dozens of Dutch companies are getting import tariff money back from the US: The United States is repaying millions of dollars in improperly collected import tariffs, and Dutch exporters are among those in line. The money arrives as a credit on tariffs already written off rather than as trading income. Business News

ING says the era of cheap money is over for good: Ten year government borrowing costs in the US and Europe are back at levels normal before 2008, with the American ten year around 4.7%. The bank argues that is a structural change rather than a phase, and it reprices mortgages and corporate debt with it. Business News

Tech and business pitching and networking night: Founders pitch, everyone else drinks and listens, on the water at IJdok. Free to attend. August 18, 18:00, IJdok 4. 📅 Networking

Pitch and Pizza: a low key startup pitch night: Deliberately informal, with pizza doing the work that a formal agenda usually does badly. August 18, 17:30, Amsterdam. 📅 Pitch / Demo

AI tech and startup night at Cafe CHA CHA: An evening aimed at people building with AI rather than talking about it, in a cafe rather than an office. August 18, Café CHA CHA. 📅 Networking

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