First Timers Festival Amsterdam is a new and hopefully recurring initiative aimed to demystify and diversify DIY music. The goal of the festival is to help people who have never been in a band or people from marginalized communities start making music. On 28 June we will showcase 8 completely new bands on the stage at OCCII! 

Who can join?
To play on the 28th of June, you need to be able to say yes to BOTH of these statements:
One or more band members have never been in a band before OR one or more members has never performed that role in a band before (e.g if a drummer is having a go at vocals)
One or more band members belongs to a marginalised identity group such as: a person of color, a woman, LGBTQIA+, disabled (visible or non-visible), working class, refugees or asylum seekers (these identity groups aren't exhaustive, let us know if we've missed any out).
In addition, your band cannot have played a show or released music before. No solo acts - bands need to be more than one person. You can sign up as an individual if you are interested but don't yet have a band.

How does it work? 
We will offer a series of instrument and vocal workshops between March and June:
14 march: Guitar (OCCII)
15 march: Singing (OCCII)
10 april: Bass (OCCII)
23 april: Build your own synth (OT301)
23 april: Music composition with synths (OT301)
May(date & location TBA): drums
May (date & location TBA): band speedmating 

Registering
You can register for the workshops or to perform on 28 june via https://linktr.ee/firsttimersfestamsterdam. You don't need to have a fully formed band or any experience. Check instagram for more frequently asked questions. 

About the festival 
This initiative began at a DIY space in London, and is now being brought to Amsterdam by a group of volunteers. Amsterdam Alternative / Vrije Ruimte is kindly supporting the festival by helping us fund the workshop hosts and the rehearsal space.