frequently asked questions

The festival weekend takes place from Friday 27 October until Sunday 29 October 2023. The main festival takes place on Sunday 29 October. Your ‘Brainwash Festival’ ticket gives you acces to all programs on Sunday the 29th.

On 27 October we’ll kick-off our festival weekend with the Opening Night in De Brakke Grond. On 28 October five Festival Book Clubs will take place throughout the day in several beautiful venues in Amsterdam. Tickets for these events are sold separately in our ticket shop.

The festival on 29 October takes place on and around Leidseplein in Amsterdam at Paradiso, De Melkweg, De Balie, Theater Bellevue and Club Up/de Kring.

The Opening Night takes place in De Brakke Grond.

The Festival Book Clubs take place in ARTIS-Groote Museum, Tolhuistuin, De Brakke Grond, Athenaeum Boekhandel Zuidoost and Tropenmuseum.

The full festival program wil be published on 4 October 2023.

Click ‘tickets’ in our menu to go to our ticket page, where you can order tickets (while supplies last). This is the only place you can order tickets for Brainwash Festival!

Yes! As a student a ticket costs €29,50 instead of €42,50. You can find the student tickets in our ticket shop. Please bring your student card for identification.

If you have ordered a festival ticket, this ticket gives access to all events on Sunday 29 October.

Tickets for the Opening Night and Book Clubs will be sold separately.

Besides Dutch makers and thinkers, we like to like host guests from abroad. It’s why approximately 9-10 of our programmes are in English. We will always mention this clearly, so you know what to expect. In our timetable we will offer the option to filter the programmes for non-Dutch speakers. The timetable will be published on 4 October 2023.

We will ask a few guests to call in via video conferencing. This means we will have one or two guests on stage and a video connection to this speaker through Zoom.

We cannot guarantee there will always be enough space for everyone, as each venue has limited capacity. Always make sure you’re well on time for the programmes you absolutely do not want to miss.

You can easily request your ticket(s) via www.ticketopvragen.nl. If you have done this, also check your spam box, because the tickets come from a yourticketprovider.nl email address. If this doesn’t happen, please contact us by email via mail@brainwashfestival.nl

All locations are accessible for people with a mobility impairment, except De Kring/Club Up. We kindly advise you to give us a heads up, should you need any assistence upon arrival or leaving. You can send us an email via mail@brainwashfestival.nl.

Are you traveling by public transport? Leidseplein is easy to reach from Amsterdam Central Station by taking tram 2 in the direction of Nieuw Sloten.

Are you coming by bike? It’s good to know that bicycles on and around Leidseplein may only be parked in a shed or rack. You can park your bicycle for free in the underground bicycle shed at the following address: Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 31.

If you decide to come by car, it’s useful to check the parking rates in Amsterdam in advance. For a carefree visit, you can park your car in Q-Park Byzantium. From the parking garage it’s only a 3 minute walk to Leidseplein.

The various festival locations can be reached on foot or by bicycle from Leidseplein. A tip in advance: use Google maps for the fastest route!

During the festival it’s possible to have a drink before or after the program at the following locations: Clup Up, De Balie, Bellevue, Melkweg and Paradiso.

De Smoeshaan at Bellevue is happy to receive you for food and drinks. It can of course get busy as there will be many festival goers walking around the festival locations. Fortunately, there are many options for lunch and dinner around Leidseplein.