The former Bijlmerbajes prison, in east Amsterdam, reopens on 21 October as a cultural venue under the name BAJES. Three spaces, a declared capacity of up to 2,900 visitors, and a temporary municipal operating licence.
What's happened
The venue's website describes it as a site for concerts, club nights, exhibitions and other forms of culture. The three spaces keep the names of their function inside the prison: Centrale Keuken (Blok C), Expeditie (Blok E) and Ketel (Blok K). Combined capacity reaches 2,900 visitors. The opening is announced in one line: «BAJES OPEN 21.10.2026». The project programmes its own events, rents out the spaces, and describes itself as open to outside initiatives, with a programme aimed at the whole city.
The building served as a prison until 2016, according to Resident Advisor. It's run by a new team led by people from De Eeuwige Jeugd, the operators of Levenslang, alongside Bulb Agency and Artists for President. The city council has granted it a temporary operating licence, and the venue is expected to run for the next two years while the Bajeskwartier urban development project moves forward. AT5, the city's public broadcaster, names Wouter Flipse and Bas van Wersch as co-owners and puts the permit at a minimum of two years. In the broadcaster's paraphrase, Flipse notes that most of Amsterdam's clubs are on the west side of the city, and that it isn't known what will happen with the licence in the longer term.
The capacity figures don't line up between sources. The official website gives up to 2,900 visitors for the three spaces combined. AT5's headline cites 3,000 for the former central kitchen alone. Two figures, two different perimeters: they don't add up to one number.
The opening programme runs from 21 to 25 October, with fourteen events announced over five days. The 21st opens with the «Intercell ADE Kickoff» and a set from Job Jobse. After that come, among others, «Somov at Bajes», «Avalon Emerson pres. 9000 Dreams», «Intercell x Oscar Mulero Invites», «Intercell x Eris Drew & Octo Octa», «SlapFunk», «Interplanetary Criminal» and the «Intercell Bajes ADE Closing» on the 25th. Several carry «ADE» in their name, though what's actually confirmed is the overlap in dates with the festival, and on those days ticket sales don't go through a single box office: we cover that in how tickets are sold during ADE.
The opening arrives against an industry backdrop that's moving the other way. VNPF, the Dutch association of venues and festivals, recorded 6.4 million visits across its 55 member venues in 2025, 5% fewer than in 2024, with club nights losing 14% of their visitors. The decline isn't uniform: between 2023 and 2025, attendance fell at 60% of venues and rose at the other 40%. The year's accounts show €247 million in revenue against €251 million in costs, more than half the venues in the red, and almost a quarter receiving less municipal subsidy than the year before. The detail is in our review of the VNPF annual report. Amsterdam is adding 2,900 club spaces in the same season the Dutch sector is documenting, nationwide, that this audience is shrinking. And it's adding them with an end date: this isn't a new venue, it's a temporary occupation inside a property development.