In the upper west side of our city we have the beautiful industrial area called Westerpark, better known as Westergasfabriek. In English that would be “Western Gas Factory”. In early 1900 it was Amsterdam’s supplier of gas mostly used for street lighting. When the factory closed, a few buildings were destroyed and other remained for storage. In 1989 the remaining buildings were recognized as monuments. Nowadays it has become a great cultural park that has a lot to offer from relaxing in the grass to partying until the late wee hours.

This is my favorite part of the city, hands down. As a photographer I fell in love with the industrial buildings which are amazingly photogenic. But also the sight itself works great for photoshoots. Here’s a photo from the old archives (2012) when I used to work as a makeup artist:

The poor girl was really cold. Oh and yes that’s a Zuca Bag, click here for a full review 😉

A few weeks ago while I was out with the girls here, my friend Laurie from Laurie Loves It asked me take an OOTD picture of her:

Don’t you just love the  “Meat Packing District”  vibe this area provides? Stay tuned for more about this girl here on TaniStates blog.

But there is so much more to do here. Did you know North Sea Jazz Club is located here too? The place to be for intimate Jazz and Soul events. I was honored they featured my Instagram photo of their event “Summer Sessions Finale Weekend”, two days of jazz, soul and funk music to enjoy and no entrance fee:

Yesterday’s “Friday Night Out” event with Giovanca:

When you’re not a Jazz fan there is also the option to enjoy some Salsa, Rock or even Techno music around Westerpark, or just some good food 😉

Here are some of the options:

1. North Sea Jazz Club.
2. Mossel & Gin.
3. Wester Unie.
4. Pacific Parc.

After all the partying you can just relax in the park itself and/or have a picnic! It’s one of the things I love about city life, anybody who lives in a big city can relate to that. We all need to get away from work, traffic or social media. Except there is no chance you will put your phone to rest here as Westerpark provides free Wi-Fi and it’s super fast!

In my opinion Westerpark is a must see area when visiting Amsterdam. Should you have plans to come visit check their website for more info on events and such.

Love,

-Tani