Culturally and recreationally, Eindhoven was formed by two forces: • Being a university city, Eindhoven has a large student population. The students from the
Eindhoven University of Technology and a number of undergraduate schools give Eindhoven a young population, whose recreational needs are catered to by several different festivals, clubs and such. • For a long time Eindhoven was the main location of Philips. The Philips company undertook a lot of effort in the "cultural formation" of its workforce and has given the city both cultural institutions (such as the former
POC and the
Muziekcentrum Frits Philips) and sporting institutions (notably
PSV). Eindhoven is also known as the City of Light, due to Philips originating from there and because of several projects involving lighting up buildings of the city. During
Carnival, Eindhoven is rechristened
Lampegat (Hamlet of Lamps, although for the ironic purposes of carnival the translation
Hole in the ground with lamps is closer to the mark); this refers again to the important role of
Philips in the Eindhoven community.
Cultural institutions There are several cultural institutions in and around the city.
Museums • There are two museums dedicated to the major topics of the city's industrial heritage: the
DAF Museum has a collection of DAF cars and the
Philips Gloeilampenfabriekje anno 1891 (across the street from the Kempenland) documents the early
lightbulb industry. • The former district court house now houses the
Designhuis, a public podium and interaction area for modern design and innovation. • The
Eindhoven Museum is an
archaeological open-air museum which focuses on the region's
Iron Age and
Middle Ages. It merged in 2011 with Museum Kempenland which was a regional museum, which documents the history of the
Kempenland region in objects, documents, paintings and educational activities. Museum Kempenland's old location, the Steentjeskerk, is closed. • The
Inkijkmuseum (the
Look-In museum; housed in an old
linen factory in the Dommelstraat) is a small but special museum: it offers ever-changing exhibits, which are to be viewed through the building's windows. • The
Van Abbemuseum has a collection of modern and
contemporary art, including works by
Picasso,
Kandinsky,
Mondriaan and
Chagall. • De
Ontdekfabriek (Discovery Factory) children's museum at
Strijp-S Eindhoven was home to the
Evoluon science museum, sponsored by
Philips. The Evoluon building has evolved into a
conference centre.
Open-air art The Eindhoven
public space contains many forms of artistic expression (a book published by the Eindhoven tourist board records 550 and more have been added since), with high "concentrations" of them in the
parks. The
Stadswandelpark for instance, contains over 30 works of
modern art. There are also several other works of art on permanent display throughout the city, such as
Flying Pins (by
Claes Oldenburg and
Coosje van Bruggen, who considered the location on the southern stretch of the John F. Kennedylaan to be like a
bowling alley) and
Swing (a construct on the Karel de Grotelaan, which morphs into different geometric shapes as you move around it). There are also a number of statues of famous city inhabitants, such as
Jan van Hooff (by
Auke Hettema, 1992) and
Frits Philips (by
Kees Verkade) on the Market Square. There is a statue of
Anton Philips in front of the central railway station. Eindhoven is also, to some degree, open to forms of impromptu and alternative art. For example, the
Berenkuil is a freezone for
graffiti artists in the city.
Light art Strijp-S is a place for experimentation with
LED lighting, which keeps the historic connection with Philips' past. Some
light art includes the project
Fakkel by Har Hollands. In the underground passage to NatLab artist
Daan Roosegaarde installed his project
Crystal. Strijp-S is a regular location for the light festival
GLOW.
Music and theatre The
Effenaar is a
popular music venue and cultural center in Eindhoven, and is located at the Dommelstraat. In 1992, the
Muziekcentrum Frits Philips was opened as a stage for classical and popular music in Eindhoven, reviewed by critics as a concert hall with acoustics that rival the best halls in Europe. Before that, Philips sponsored the
POC. Parktheater Eindhoven is Eindhoven's stage for opera, cabaret, ballet etc. Opened in 1964, it has received over 250,000 visitors every year. With its 1,000 m2 it has one of the largest stages in the Netherlands. With a major renovation ending in 2007, the new Parktheater will receive an estimated 300,000 visitors a year. Eindhoven's Plaza Futura is now a cinema featuring cultural movies, lectures and special cultural events. Especially for students,
Studium Generale Eindhoven organizes "socially, culturally and intellectually formative events". From within the student body, two
Tunas provide entertainment from time to time at university and city events:
Tuna Ciudad de Luz (
Tuna of the City of Light) and the ladies tuna
La Tuniña. The general music and theatre scene in Eindhoven (in the broadest sense) is supported by a foundation called PopEi. The purpose of this foundation is to support artistic groups with facilities, especially rehearsal stages and areas (housed in the old Philips location of
Strijp-S) but also storage facilities. PopEi also provides a working environment for groups (through cafeteria facilities in
Strijp-S, so groups can have real working days) and provides some logistical support for organizing events.
Recreation Eindhoven has a lively recreational scene. For going out, there are numerous bars on the
Market square, Stratumseind (Stratum's End) which is the largest pub-street in the Netherlands, Dommelstraat, Wilhelmina square and throughout the rest of the city. In addition to the more culturally oriented Plaza Futura, there are three
cinemas in the centre of town ("Servicebioscoop Zien", "Vue" and
Pathé Eindhoven, which offers THX sound, IMAX screens and 3D movie viewing). Eindhoven also hosts a large number of cultural and entertainment-oriented festivals. The biggest festivals in Eindhoven are: •
ABlive, popfestival
(September) •
Carnaval,
(February) •
Koningsdag,
National Day (27 April) •
Muziek op de Dommel, classical music festival
(June) •
EDIT, festival
(June) • Fiesta del Sol, street- and music acts
(June) •
UCI ProTour –
Eindhoven Team Time Trial, international cycling tour
(June) •
Virus Festival,
alternative music festival
(last edition in 2007, inactive at the moment) •
Dynamo Metal Fest (July) •
Park Hilaria,
fun fair (August) •
Folkwoods,
folk festival (August) •
Reggae Sundance, reggae festival
(August) •
Lichtjesroute, 15-mile-tour of light ornaments, commemorating the liberation of Eindhoven (from
18 September) •
Eindhoven Marathon,
(October) •
Dutch Design Week, international school festival
(October) •
GLOW Festival Eindhoven •
TROMP international music competition & Festival, international classical music competition & festival (15–23 November 2008:
String quartet, Nov 2010: Percussion) • STRP Festival, art & technology festival
(23–25 November 2007) Parks Eindhoven contains several parks and a lot of open, green space. Of the five largest cities in the Netherlands, it has the highest percentage of green area (encompassing about a third of all public space). It is also the greenest of the five largest cities in
North Brabant. The green area per house is about . Some of the major parks in Eindhoven are the
Stadswandelpark,
Genneper Parken, the
Philips van Lenneppark,
Philips de Jongh Wandelpark and the
Henri Dunantpark. There is also a green area surrounding the
Karpendonkse Plas (a water area). The combination of park area, water and general atmosphere got the Ooievaarsnest neighborhood elected the "Best large-city neighborhood of the Netherlands" by the
NRC Handelsblad in 1997.
Sport • The premier sporting club of the city is
PSV Eindhoven, the professional football club playing in the
Eredivisie. Their home base is the
Philips Stadion. PSV won the 1988
European Cup as well as
25 Dutch championships. •
FC Eindhoven is another football club based in Eindhoven, currently playing in the
Eerste Divisie. •
HC Oranje-Rood is the biggest field hockey club in Eindhoven and in fact one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands. It is a combination of former clubs Oranje Zwart and EMHC. Oranje Zwart's men's team was the reigning Dutch champion for the past 3 years (14/15/16). They also won the
EHL in 2015. •
Eindhoven Kemphanen is the major
ice hockey club in the city. They play in IJssportcentrum Eindhoven and compete in the
North Sea Cup. • Eindhoven High Techs are the
minor league affiliate of the
Eindhoven Kemphanen and play in the
Eerste Divisie. • Swimming pool complex De Tongelreep houses various pools for recreation, training and sports research supported by the
Eindhoven University of Technology and several top sporting institutions. Its "
Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium" hosted the
2008 European Championships Swimming, Diving and Synchronised Swimming, the 2010
IPC Swimming World Championships, the
2010 European Short Course Swimming Championships, the
2012 European Championships Waterpolo, Diving and Synchronised Swimming, the
2013 FINA Swimming World Cup, the
2014 IPC European Swimming Championships, the
2017 FINA Swimming World Cup and the
2018 FINA Swimming World Cup. • Eindhoven houses Europe's largest indoor skateboard park
Area 51 (skatepark) and is home of a lively skateboard culture. • Eindhoven has two
boxing clubs, The Golden Gloves and Muscle Fit. • Eindhoven hosted the 1999
World Table Tennis Championships. • Eindhoven Shamrocks Gaelic Football Club are an amateur sports team. The club was founded in 2013 and is based at Oude Bosschebaan 32, 5624 AA in Eindhoven. The club is affiliated to the European County Board of the
Gaelic Athletic Association. The Shamrocks have won the Benelux Shield Competition in 2017. • Eindhoven has a
baseball club called PSV, which plays at the stadium which co-hosted the 2005 IBAF
Baseball World Cup. • Eindhoven has an American Football team, , which plays at the 1st division in the Dutch American Football League. •
Strijp-S is a magnet for urban sports like skateboarding,
BMX and
bouldering as well as bootcamp classes. • Eindhoven has two
Rugby union Clubs a student rugby club associated with the
Eindhoven University of Technology and formerly known as RCE/PSV.
Adult-orientated entertainment The centre of town features two
casinos (one branch of
Holland Casino and the independent Casino4Events). At the
A67 a Jack's casino is located. There is a red light district on the Baekelandplein, as well as four
brothels throughout the city. There is also a
blue movie theater.
Strijp-S The old Philips factory complex has been transformed into a multi-purpose cultural and residential complex called
Strijp-S. This includes conference and event space, space for concerts and events, art of lighting, space for sports such as BMX, bouldering, and more, a walking promenade, etc. ==Media==