The Royal Palace in Amsterdam is hosting four carillon concerts this summer, each with a theme. And you can vote on which songs you’d most like to hear!

Summer music in Amsterdam

The Royal Palace has organised these concerts in the hope that they will add something beautiful to the days of those remaining in Amsterdam this summer. Each of the four concerts will have a different theme, ranging from celebrating Amsterdam to the classics of the Beatles. 

On the palace website, you can vote for your favourite songs out of a playlist put together by the palace, and the most popular 10 will be played to be heard throughout the centre of the city. Voting has already opened, and the concerts will take place every Sunday for the coming four weeks between 12 and 1 pm. The themes are as follows:

• Sunday, July 19: Give me Amsterdam 
• Sunday, August 2: Love me tender
• Sunday, August 16: Between heaven and earth 
• Sunday, August 30: Heroic, determined, merciful

Royal Palace Carillon

The carillon can be found in the tower of the palace and is a large structure of several bronze bells which are played serially to produce a melody, or together to play a chord. The palace carillon has been playing concerts for more than 350 years, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the people of Amsterdam would even gather on Dam Square for Christmas and Easter concerts.

The selected songs for these four concerts will be played by Frits Reynaert, who has been the carillonneur at the palace for 40 years.