It’s already been 10 years since several entrepreneurs put their heads together to establish a unique and essential multi-day jazz festival in the capital of the Netherlands. Not in the RAI or at another well-known Amsterdam event location, but in and around the Red Light District, a colorful neighborhood where jazz music from the United States came ashore in the 1920s and 1930s and never left.

The plan initiated in 2013 can readily be regarded as a success, as the 10th edition of the Red Light Jazz Festival will take place on June 9th, 10th and 11th. And that is definitely worth celebrating! As this year’s edition is a landmark anniversary, instead of focusing on a particular instrument, we’ve chosen for a more general theme: Amsterdam World Jazz City. To show that Amsterdam is a city to be reckoned with in the international jazz world.

This year’s main program will take place on four main stages: Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, the Royal IGC, the Wallonian Church and Casablanca, the last of which is the oldest and only remaining historic jazz cafe in Amsterdam. Concerts at those primary locations can only be attended with a valid admission ticket. These can be ordered online from mid-April via the website www.redlightjazz.com. Other jazz performances, all of which are free of charge, will also take place in more than 20 neighborhood locations during the festival weekend.

The official opening of Red Light Jazz 2023 will kick off on Friday, June 9th  at 3 p.m. in the world-famous Casa Rosso Theater, followed by a performance by Hans Dulfer, the doyen of Dutch jazz. Other artists to perform during the anniversary edition of Red Light Jazz include: Roaring Cats, Steffen Morrison, Tim Armacost, Joris Teepe & Rob van Bavel, Rembrandt Frerichs Trio, Mieke Stemerdink & André Vrolijk, Anton Goudsmit, Gideon Tazelaar, Farida Merville , Ruth Geerse, The Funk Disciples, Bout du Monde, Bas van Lier, La Ratte and the John Engels Quintet with ‘Remembering the Diamond Five’.