7 reasons why you should invest in Holland Festival 2017 #hf17

Ruth Mackenzie has achieved an enormous amount in the short time she has been boss of Holland Festival. I have experienced the festival now since the late 1990s and have seen it evolve from something that was very personal and sometimes obscure (under Ivo van Hove), to an ethereal feast of shimmering aesthetics (with Pierre Audi), to what it is today: a hyper-actual, necessary arts festival that is at the centre of society and also brings together the most extraordinary of high and slightly lower art.

1 It is going to be horribly topical

This year's theme is 'Democracy'. A logical choice. After all, this year there are elections in three European countries and America has just elected a president. And in all these situations, existing certainties are suddenly at stake: the independence of press and judges, truth, security and international relations. Existing elites are threatened, while populists skillfully capitalise on the vacuum created in social relations. In a nutshell: Brexit, Trump, the trio Wilders, Roos, Baudet, Le Pen and AfD. One can hang a show on each name. Forget the news, go to the theatre. Really learn more in this case. So special attention to The Nation (a marathon by Eric de Vroedt) and My Country of the British National Theatre, but certainly for La Democrazia in America From festival veteran Romeo Castelucci (from €18).

[Tweet "Forget the news, go to the theatre. Really learn more in this case."]

2 It is un-Dutch about Indonesia

I seriously wonder if a Dutch festival director could have set up this year's Indonesia theme as catchily as Ruth MacKenzie, who is British. Because of our colonial past, the still-open wounds, the sensitivities, the Moluccans, the Pasar Malam, someone in the middle of that might have chosen a safer route, with more folklore, more state art. This year's programme seems to have little of that: lots of hyper-moderns and youngsters. Deconstructed gamelan, and heritage whose existence we do not yet know because it is after us. I am especially looking forward to 'A Night in Indonesia', a five-hour night in which pop temple Paradiso transforms into a slice of Indonesian nightlife where no backpacker would ever dare to go. Plus another thing no backpacker will ever have been to: world premieres by contemporary Indonesian composers, performed by Ensemble Modern. (from €18)

3 Jude Law

The advantage of Ivo van Hove is that he can now really get any actor in the world. That's why it's now really nice that Jude Law has been snared (or vice versa) for a role in Obsession, opposite Halina Reijn. That needs no additional comment for a while. (from €30.50)

4 Kate Blanchett

A film installation featuring Kate Blanchett on more screens than you can count. 12 times the most intriguing actress Australia has in 12 different roles and situations, with one message. Or actually 12, too. Something to look forward to: Manifesto. (From €8)

5 The Bijlmer

The Bijlmer has long since ceased to be the no-go area we made of it in the 1980s. So time to take a look around, and there's no better opportunity than a free open-air screening of Boris Charmatz at Anton de Komplein. It's about Charlie Hebdo. Among other things. Overnight. Qua topical. (from €0)

6 All that music, all that opera, all that dance, all that art!

The Concertgebouw does proms, Ivo van Hove directs a opera, Stravinsky sounds like it never sounded before and 3D printed living rooms on Museum Square. I mean: you can really miss a lot during the Holland Festival because of too much on offer and too little time, and so that's a shame, because it's only three weeks a year. And maybe that causes stress. Then, fortunately, you can still sit down in A beach chair on the IJ promenade. To look out over the water through headphones to listen to someone else's dreams. Intimate sound theatre, recorded in the Jungle of Calais. I already can't wait. (from €8).

7 82,50€

If you follow all the above tips at a minimum, you might be 82.50 euros[hints]I have assumed prices in the cheapest grade here, with CJP student discount. Other prices are a few euros higher, up to many euros for first-grade seats at the opera (165 euros)[/hints] lighter, and 6 intense experiences richer. Experiences you won't soon forget. I think that's a very fair deal.