Crossing Border Festival/ the Koninklijke Showburg and NT theatre in Den Haag

Crossing Border is an arts/ music/ literature festival in Den Haag. This year, guests ranged from Black rebel Motorcycle Club through Kula Shaker and Rufus Wainwright to Chuck Pahlunik, Patti Smith and Salman Rushdie. The venue is a group of theatres near the ministry of finance, with three major stages and other events taking place in a tent and various foyers.

Tickets for a single night were 24€, and you could get a ticket for the whole festival if you chose. The venues were well organised (apart form a minor niggle where some rooms were hard to find), the cloakrooms are free, and there are plenty of bars which also serve coffee. The staff were friendly. The drinks are reasonably priced - 2€ for a beer or a coffee.

There were radio stations broadcasting from the foyer when I went, which gave me the chance to see a lot of the bands I'd missed doing live accoustic sets for the broadcasts. This was amazing - the sort of thing that Radio 1 or XFM back home run contests to win the chance to do. The accoustics in the places I went to were good, although one stage had some mic problems initially. There is plenty to do and attend even if you don't speak Dutch, as English authors are interviewed in English. I really hope I can come next year - I would cross the channel for this one.