The New Amsterdam Festival will transform the Vander Ende-Onderdonk House in Ridgewood into an outdoor Dutch wonderland on the weekend of April 29 to 30 filled with fun activities for the whole family including music, food, shops and more.
Hosted by the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society and House of Yes, The New Amsterdam Festival is going to bring to Ridgewood the spirit of two Dutch springtime celebrations including Holland’s King’s Day celebrated annual on April 27, and Tulip Festival celebrated from April 14 to May 4 in Flevoland, on Saturday, April 29, and Sunday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. each day.
The free, two-day festival will feature fun events including lawn games like bocce and cornhole, or games of human foosball. Visitors can take part in some interactive art, live painting, hula hooping, face painting, and arts and crafts, and can watch amazing circus performances.
House of Yes will be delivering some of Holland’s cuisine with Dutch treats including sweet stroopwafel waffles, thick and crispy frites with mayo, and more as well as a wealth of options from several vendors including Queen of Falafel.
For the 21 and over crowd, there will be a tented beer garden serving of Holland’s first premium beer, Heineken.
“The thing about House of Yes is that everyone associates us as being a nightlife spot that only caters to a 21+ crowd. While that’s a huge component of what we offer, our vision and ethos is so much more than that and is really all about supporting our local community,” said Kae Burke, co-founder and co-creative director of House of Yes. “Community is at the core of everything we do from supporting local artists and performers, to booking local vendors at our weekend market with Mamas Bazaar. The New Amsterdam Festival is about not only the beginning of spring but also about bringing people together from all ages and walks of life and a chance for us to give something back to our neighbors that is fun for families too and at the same time delivers a little slice of Dutch culture to Queens, New York.”
Mamas Bazaar will be on hand with more than 15 local artisan vendors including vintage shop Screaming Mimis, Electric Candy Couture, clothing from Chiang Mai by Bellewaera, Adorned By You and many more.
From 3 to 6 p.m. there will be a live Dutch bluegrass band playing some tunes. Then, from 6 to 9 p.m., the House of Yes resident DJs will bring their dance party to the festival.
Funds collected from the $2 suggested donation per adult and a portion of the bar proceeds, money will be collected to raise awareness and preservation for the Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, which is NYC’s oldest Dutch Colonial stone house.
The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House is located at 1820 Flushing Ave. The festival is rain or shine. For more information, visit the Eventbright page, or Facebook event.
