For international students staying in the Netherlands during the summer holiday, fear not, because there’s more to see here than just windmills and wooden shoes. Every weekend this summer there is a fun festival somewhere near you.
Westerpop is a great, smoky pop festival in Delft that takes place on August 26-27. The festival is held in an area behind Delft Central Station, near the bus stop. Just follow your ears to find it. The famous Dutch band ‘Go Back to the Zoo’ will perform at Westerpop this year, but there are also plenty of other rock, indie and metal music bands on the programme, and the entrance fee is zero! Go to the website to check the complete programme.
A much different festival of world renowned is the annual North Sea Jazz Festival held in Rotterdam. Some of the artists playing this year include: blues legend BB king, Tom Jones, king of the night Prince and many more top jazz artists. However, you need to pay a high price for seeing such stars: 89 euros per day. The festival runs from July 8 to 10.
Somewhere else in Rotterdam, on Lloyd Multiplein square, a huge screen will be raised. Here a movie is shown every evening from August 17 to the 28th. Visit the website to see this year’s programme, but if you plan to go, don’t forget to take your own chair, couch or pillow! Otherwise you’ll have to sit on the ground. Renting a chair for 1 or 2 euros is also an option. From August 5 to 15, Amsterdam also shows movies in the open air.
Those interested in theatre can go to the Parade, a travelling theatre festival. The Parade is a collection of colourful tents in which a wide variety of shows are performed. There are theatre and dance performances, and every evening there’s live music (sometimes with songs on request). From June 16 to August 21, the Parade travels throughout the Netherlands. Before 16:00 the entrance is free, and after that visiting a show costs a few euros. And if you go, you should definitely ride on the merry-go-round.
On every Wednesday between July 13 and August 10 there is the Wednesday Night Skate in Rotterdam. Each year thousands of skaters come to Binnenrotte square. Starting at 20:30, all these people start a skating tour – about 15km long – through the city. Among the crowd are cars with DJs playing on top. If you do join, you should be able to use your brakes, or at least take someone with you who can, because the route is not entirely flat. After the tour there’s a skate disco at the starting point.
The last must-see event is a romantic one. Imagine fire-lit skies above the sea. At Scheveningen Beach there will be huge firework shows on August 12, 13, 19 and 20. The show itself starts at a 21:45. Two hours before the show there will also be a programme of activities, which will be announced on the website. Enjoy your holiday!
www.westerpop.nl
www.northseajazz.com/nl
www.pleinbioscooprotterdam.nl
www.plukdenacht.nl
www.deparade.nl
wednesdaynightskate.nl
www.vuurwerkscheveningen.nl
Een motie van SP-kamerlid Jasper van Dijk om de studiefinanciering toch te indexeren, werd mede ingediend door PVV-kamerlid Beertema, oud-bestuurslid van Beter Onderwijs Nederland. Beertema benadrukte dat eerst moet worden bezuinigd in de ‘kleilagen’ van het onderwijs, voordat er ‘gemorreld’ zou worden aan de basisbeurs. CDA, PvdA, VVD en D66 zijn vóór bevriezing.
Bezuiniging
Als de inflatie aan het eind van dit jaar nog steeds 1,2 procent bedraagt, kost de maatregel een student volgend jaar maandelijks zo’n drie euro. De staatssecretaris verwacht dat de bezuiniging de schatkist 46 miljoen oplevert in 2011, oplopend tot 68 miljoen in 2014.
Nederland is, samen met het Verenigd Koninkrijk, het enige Europese land waar het collegegeld gemiddeld meer dan 1200 euro bedraagt. Dat blijkt uit het gisteren verschenen OESO-rapport ‘Education at a glance’, waarin de rijke industrielanden hun onderwijs vergelijken.
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