Amsterdam Light Festival Foundation

Very disappointed from this light festival!! Can't believe that some artist do such ugly art work and other bay big money they display it! Very overrated. As a dutch citizen told me- we advertise big but the product does not exist! The boat trip was standard, nothing different than other boat trips. Don't go, don't waist your money.

Its a pure scam. Extremely poor selection of artwork which anyway is close to invisible if one decides to travel by boat…. And on the boat its impossible to see anything- windows are continuously covered in FOG. Take it in account when uou decide to pay close to 30eurofor a ride. Waste of money.

We saw the light festival in Amsterdam in 2018 and it was so great that we wanted to see it again this year, 2023. However, we were very disappointed at the 2023 light festival. Perhaps the theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not quite ready for artist to grasp and express yet. I hope the light festival will be much better in future years.

Nice light sculptures over de canal with good stories behind. Nothing spectacular. The artworks are, in my opinion, too separated from each other, which means that if you want to see it all, you need at least 2 to 3 hours to walk. An option is, of course, by boat, but this is too limited and costly. After seeing the Christmas light festival in Medellin for a few years (which is really fascinating), it is difficult to be easily content.

It's not worth the extra trip. The boat trips are organized chaotically in winter. In the summer it is much better managed. The departure points for Floating Amsterdam Tours and Amsterdam Boat Experience are described inaccurately in the ticket. There is no exact name on the pier on site. Boarding is chaotic. Amsterdam Boat Experience sends its passengers back and forth. Everything is so unprofessional. There are tickets online with a QR code and glow sticks on the pier that assign the boat. The glow stick was retracted during boarding. The choice of boat is lottery. If it's half open, it'll rain and you'll be partially wet. When it's dry, the boat has windows that are smeared and it's like being in a sweat lodge inside. You can forget about taking photos. The paths on the pier are not prepared for winter. Danger of accidents. The usual explanations on board. Some Stewarts are very frugal with drinks. Passengers must serve themselves. The motto and the artwork are a matter of taste, but art is okay. Overall, the Light Festival wasn't a big hit for us. You can take a look. The problems on the boat detract from the already charmless atmosphere.

Underwhelming to say the least. The boat tour was nice and so was the captain and the idea of the art is actually very interesting, also liked the tid bits about Amsterdam's history (this is why I gave two stars). But they were so little. They say there was 20+ pieces but it was not relative to the length of the tour(1 hour). Were they 20+ pieces? Yes. But it was soooo far scatterd and small that you felt like you saw 5 pieces. People on the boat fell asleep!! The word "festival" is far from what it is. My advice, take all of this art and put it in a smaller museum showroom (trust me it can fit) and walk the streets of amsterdam at night during the holidays (those lights a big, pretty, bright and free! (They are not art sure but it puts more of the word "festive" in festival)). Sad part is? ALF will continue to make money because people (like me) will just go expecting a lot, already paid, and leave dissatisfied. Dutch and tourists alike had the same sentiments as we did when we got off that boat... and it was summarized as "that's it?"

Let's just not call it festival! There're only a few illuminated sculptures or objects. Far from what is presented and much too over-appreciated! In the end, it was just a very nice boat ride!

If you pass by Amsterdam during the Christmas period don’t forget the Amsterdam Light Festival. For sure a good excuse to have a night cruise along the most characteristics Amsterdamer canals .