North Sea Jazz, Ahoy Rotterdam (1976)
The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 after the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally held.
In 1976 the first edition of the festival took place. It was an immediate success: six stages, thirty hours of music, and 300 performances drew over 9000 visitors.
The festival has grown to fifteen stages, 1,200 musicians, and about 25,000 visitors a day. The festival presents concerts in New Orleans jazz, swing, fusion, blues, gospel, funk, soul and drum and bass.
The festival is acknowledged as the "biggest indoor jazz festival in the world" and has a reputation for showcasing different areas of jazz from all eras.
Rhythm & Blues Night, De Oosterpoort Groningen (1992)
The Rhythm & Blues Night, the festival that has been bringing together top acts from the international blues, roots and Rhythm ‘n’ Blues scene under one roof in De Oosterpoort, Groningen for over three decades (since 1992).
Moulin Blues Ospel, Ospel, Netherlands (1986)
What started as an idea over a glass of beer in Café De Prins in Ospel, has grown into one of the largest blues festivals in the Netherlands. Since 1986, the chord progressions of the blues have echoed across the Ospelse Peel. Over the years, the festival has become such an integral part of the Ospel community that it is now inseparably connected to it. The tiny one-day event has since grown into a full-fledged two-day festival, securing a well-deserved spot among the most important bluesfestivals in Europe. The festival is held on the first weekend in May.
Holland International Blues Festival, Grolloo (2016)
The Holland International Blues Festival is an annual festival with blues music in Grolloo, Drenthe.
The festival was first held in 2016 and was an initiative of blues enthusiast Johan Derksen, resident of Grolloo and well-known TV and radio maker, and two entrepreneur friends. The town of Grolloo is inextricably linked to the blues because the nestor of the blues in the Netherlands Harry Muskee, who founded Cuby and the Blizzards in the village.
Since 2016, the festival has been held on alternating weekends in June.
