Amsterdam lives day and night. That is why we protect, strengthen, and stimulate our nightlife culture. Three years ago, we established 15 concrete measures and recorded them in the Nightlife Implementation Agenda 2023-2026. With the progress report of the implementation agenda, we show what we have achieved in these years and where opportunities still lie.
Thanks to initiatives such as a subsidy scheme and location research, the nightlife culture is flourishing on multiple fronts. However, challenges remain, for example in the permit process and the distribution of clubs across the city.
‘An indispensable part of Amsterdam’
Alderman Touria Meliani (Art and Culture): Nightlife is an indispensable part of Amsterdam. It offers space for creativity, meeting, and experimentation. With the implementation agenda, we have taken important steps to ensure that nightlife can flourish and that Amsterdam is a city where everyone feels at home at night.
Important results and new insights
The very first nightlife subsidy scheme has already supported 76 initiatives, such as EchoNOW by Echobox Radio, which offers a platform for young creators. We also started a pilot in which we investigated various sound insulation measures. We will evaluate this pilot next spring. The goal is to continue and expand this support structurally in the future. The monthly nightlife consultation hour, where initiators can discuss their ideas with the municipality, has also proven successful. It has already helped dozens of plans forward.
Large differences between districts
The location research shows that nightclubs are mainly found in West, Centrum, and Nieuw-West. In districts such as Zuidoost and Weesp, they are hardly found. Together with the districts, we look at promising locations and also ask residents about their needs. For this, we conduct a city-wide resident survey, supplemented by an exploration of the nightlife behavior of young people under 21. The results will follow at the end of this year.
Continuously learning and improving
The implementation of the nightlife agenda did not go without hurdles. Some initiators got stuck in complicated permit processes or encountered unclear procedures. The municipality wants to remove these obstacles and is therefore developing an administrative manual and a roadmap for initiators. Amsterdam also remains an international pioneer in nightlife policy and continues to exchange knowledge with other cities worldwide.
Learn more
- For more information, a link to the Nightlife Implementation Agenda 2023-2026, the Night Vision, the consultation hour for initiators in the night, and more, go to The night has the future.
