For the past few years Brazilian samba bands have become an increasingly popular feature of our Maastricht carnival and can no longer be dissociated from it. But what exactly are samba bands? Where do they come from? And how did they reach our city? To learn more about this phenomenon Marleen Vara speaks with three members of Passatempo, her favourite samba band in Maastricht. [continued…]

Spanish expat Diana Berdun never misses a chance to go to the market in Maastricht. “I often purposely leave part of my grocery shopping (fruit, vegetable and fish) for the market. There I can find more choice, better prices and it is more entertaining to go from one stall to the other,” she says. Let’s follow her! [continued…]

Big surprise yesterday afternoon in Maastricht: I was just coming out of the Selexyz bookshop when all of a sudden, I saw the two main actors of the popular Dutch police series Flikken Maastricht playing a scene right in front of me. [continued…]

I’m sitting in the shade on my boat and the weather is just great. Huge carp are cruising around the harbour as the spawning season begins. Boats of all kinds are beginning to gather on the lake, from small sailing dinghies to monster power boats taking a break from zooming up and down the Maas. Swans glide over to snatch some bread before stomping off after the latest unwanted intruders. It’s wonderful to be on the water.

Read on further to get a glimpse of what it is like for British expat Gary Evans to live on the river Maas.

Recently rated the world’s “fairest bookshop” by the UK’s highly-regarded Guardian newspaper, the Dominicanen has quickly become one of Maastricht’s tourist attractions. “After the Guardian article, this place has been a madhouse,” William Remmers, General Department Head of the store, tells Crossroads writer Amrit Dhir. [continued…]

Crossroads writer and photographer Rosanne Rademaker takes us on a walk through Maastricht’s beautiful public cemetery. [Rosanne’s photo-reportage]

Four huge, genuine dinosaur skeletons are currently on exhibit in Maastricht. [More photographs and press release…]

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Rosanne Rademaker shares her impressions of Maastricht in winter time. Visit her photo-reportage.

Maastricht appeared to me from the very first minute as a little fairy city when I arrived here by train in June 2007. It was the picture of a city that is being loved by its inhabitants and thoroughly taken care of. [continued…]

No matter where you looked there was water in many forms: gigantic lakes that felt like the sea, canals, polders, rivers, ponds… and hundreds of minute, white boats dotting the horizon, writes Crossroads writer Hector Pascual Alvarez as he remembers his recent trip to the northern province of Friesland. [View his photo-reportage]

Organized by the university’s Studium Generale cultural organisation, Koko student association, Maastrichts Mooiste foundation, and the city of Maastricht, Maastricht’s Global Culture Festival took its audience on a flavourful voyage through music and food from all corners of the world. [continued…]

photo: Stuart Woodburn
The Lions Club Maastricht Mondial this year held its annual May Fair for expatriates and their families at Kasteel Limbricht on Sunday 3 June. [See photo-reportage by Stuart Woodburn and Herman Pijpers…]

The 10th arch on 4 March 2007

After months of restoration works, the 10th arch under the Saint Servatius bridge will finally be open to the public. [continued…]

Ahhh, spring in Maastricht! Outdoor chairs appear at every café, the sun shines, flowers bloom, and Maastrichters head outdoors with gusto. The parks of Maastricht become popular, and populated, once again. This time of year these public spaces have shed their gray winter coats to become sunny green magnets for one and all: dogwalkers, sunbathers, sports players, families, bikers, strollers, readers, writers, and all the rest. [continued…]

Every year on Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), 30 April, the Netherlands celebrates the Queen’s official birthday. Street parties and other events are held all around the country. This year in Maastricht, a large “vrijmarkt” (free market) was organised in the StadPark (City park) and many music bands performed for the public. [more photographs…]

Apart from being your faithful editor, I am also a member of the International Women’s Club of South Limburg (IWC). Our latest monthly meeting exceptionally took us to the Africa Centre (Afrikacentrum) in Cadier en Keer, just outside of Maastricht. [continued…]

I ventured into the centre of Maastricht for opening day of Carnival last Sunday and managed to snap some photos of the colourful party. Here’s just a few of the amazing costumes that were on display. [more photographs…]

When we moved to South Limburg and heard that Maastricht was THE capital of carnival, we were initially more worried than excited.

I had not particularly enjoyed my first encounter with carnival in the Netherlands back in 1992. At the time, my Dutch husband and I lived above a pub in Hoogland, a village near Amersfoort in the centre of the country, and I remember how the stench of stale beer had permeated the air for weeks after the three days of madness. [continued…]

The Treaty of Maastricht is currently on display in Maastricht. Mayor Gerd Leers personally travelled all the way to Rome to pick up the heavy document which marked the start of the European Union 15 years ago. Everyone is welcome to go and have a look at the famous Treaty until next Thursday 15 February at the Hoofdwacht building on the Vrijthof square in Maastricht (free entrance). A photo-reportage for Crossroads. [more photographs…]

Here are a few photographs taken in early January in my village in the outskirts of Maastricht. Where is the winter? [more photographs…]

On my first visit to Selexyz Dominicanen, Maastricht’s new magnificent bookstore, the upper floors had not been opened to the public yet. Now they are, and here’s what they look like. The frescoes on the church ceiling can also better be admired from there! [more photographs…]

Crossroads photographer Herman Pijpers last Thursday decided to take a few shots of the newly launched Maastricht-Brussels Express train. Without his knowledge, he recorded a peculiar incident that took place right as he was shooting the following pictures. [continued…]

On the eve of the International Human Rights Day, Amnesty International Maastricht yesterday (9 December) organised a rally through the streets of Maastricht for the cause of resident Abdullah Al-Mansouri. A photo-reportage by Danya Chaikel for Crossroads. [more photographs…]

There was much interest for Maastricht’s impressive new bookstore last Saturday afternoon. Selexyz Dominicanen, as it is called, is located in the city’s old Dominican Church. After many months of renovation the magnificent building is finally ready for its new purpose. [more photographs…]

Photograph by Atticus Mullikin. [More photographs…]

Swedish fashion retailer Hennes and Mauritz recently opened a new outlet in Maastricht’s renovated Entre-Deux shopping centre. It held a spectacular fashion show last Saturday afternoon to celebrate the event.

I was lucky enough to arrive just before the end of the free open air show and quickly grabbed my camera! [more photographs…]

Het Parcours is a yearly cultural festival where all different performing arts and cultural organisations of Maastricht are introduced to the public. [continued…]

Google Earth received a major database update at the end of last week, introducing 15-centimetre resolution for the first time to areas such as the Netherlands and Japan. People can now see the clearest and most detailed aerial imagery of the Netherlands yet.

So here is the latest view of Maastricht via Google Earth. The old fortified city walls can clearly be identified at the bottom right corner of the picture. [continued…]

The city of Maastricht last Saturday welcomed its new inhabitants from all origins during the annual “Welkom in Maastricht” Festival. [More photographs…]

Belvédère is an area of about 280 hectares to the north-west of Maastricht, still largely unknown but definitely worth discovering! [continued…]