A world of emotions

Welcome to Amsterdam Roots Festival 2025!

Amsterdam Roots invites you to explore the world of emotions at this year's festival edition. Current events around us – wars, social debates, and uncertainty in the cultural sector – evoke strong emotions. That's why Amsterdam Roots aims to create a meeting place where we can connect with each other through shared art and cultural experiences, and by exploring and sharing emotions.

Amsterdam Roots Festival is inspired by the research of socio-cultural psychologist Batja Mesquita, who demonstrates in her book 'Emotions Between Us' that emotions are strongly culturally determined. In Western cultures, the emphasis is often on personal emotions, while in other cultures, sharing emotions is central. Roots aims to be a creative meeting place where these different perspectives on emotions come together, so that we can better understand each other and 'the emotions between us.'

The festival theme 'A world of emotions' runs like a thread through the festival program in the Oosterpark. Listen to stories of loneliness, comfort, and intense happiness on the 'carpet of Amsterdam.' Watch in amazement as the circus artists each take on the fight against gravity in their own way. Examine what that evokes in the audience; is it tension and relief? Or fear? Feel the pride and mutual empathy during the interdisciplinary performance of Becoming? Or read the anger at injustice in the eyes of Brazilian singer Bia Ferreira?

Experience the connection with the artists and the audience around you while watching or dancing to artists from Mali or South Korea. Or participate in the interactive performances of Sifra Coulet and Luana Ferreira (A Tale of All Colors), who invite you to participate and reflect throughout the day.

Amsterdam Roots Festival 2025 offers much more than a sparkling festival program. At Roots, you will discover how emotions connect us, enrich our perspectives, and bring us closer together, regardless of culture, age, or background. Together, we share not just a festival experience, but a world full of emotions!