Vrankrijk: Café in Centrum, Amsterdam

★★★★★ 4.5

Vrankrijk is a self-managed political cafe and concert room at Spuistraat 216 in the centre of Amsterdam, in a legalised squat known across the city for its painted facade and anarchist slogans. Go for punk shows, queer nights and vegan food: everything here is non-commercial, and the evenings raise money for political causes. The week has a steady rhythm. Wednesday is WTF Queer Wednesday, usually with a voku serving vegan food, and Friday is punk night. Most Saturdays and various other evenings there are benefit concerts and parties, and hip-hop nights come round too. Thursdays bring the Anarchist Action Assistance Hour, a walk-in for activist groups, and there is a community bike repair on some Tuesdays. There are no fixed opening hours, so check the agenda, which lists each evening with its door price or suggested donation. The building dates from 1875 and was a printworks and a joinery. During the Second World War Marten Toonder used part of it, and false papers for the resistance were made here. It stood empty until squatters took it in November 1982 to stop its demolition, and they bought it in 1992 to head off an eviction. The ground-floor bar and concert hall are run separately from the housing upstairs. If you want to put on an event, the way in is the monthly bar meeting on the first Monday of the month.