THE recommendation for this weekend consists of 3 concerts, one major location: Westerpark.

Anyone who goes by Westerpark this week will notice the huge summer stage that his been setup to accommodate a very big concert series entitled Live at Westerpark. So let's cut to the chase:

Friday: Simply Red, 8pm, €49.
Saturday: Lenny Kravitz, 8pm, €59.
Sunday: Anouk, 8pm, officially sold out.

You probably noticed 2 things about the weekend schedule. Some legendary names at some very expensive prices. For the true fans out there, I'm sure its worth it.

As always, expats have lots of choices if they look to Cosmo Polite for things to do. A couple examples of what to expect in the coming weeks:

On Tuesday, July 7th the group will attend the Robeco Summer Concerts. Thursday the 16th is the monthly Thursday Expat Drinks, and Thursday the 23rd hosts a summer wine tasting. Saturday the 25th of July is a Salsa Beginners workshop, and another Robeco Concert presents itself on Tuesday the 28th.

See Cosmo Polite’s website for more information and to learn more about the club.

Amsterdam and Rotterdam have their museum nights in the winter months, but Leiden holds its night of cultural fun in July. The deal is similar to the other cities – lots of museums opening their doors until late with exciting programs and a whole new look at their contents. A couple details:

Museum night in Leiden runs from 8pm until late on July 4th, 2009. In addition to the many museums that will take part, there will be DJ's, concerts, outdoor cinema, workshops, theater, dance and more. Afterparties will be held in InCasa and ALSV Quintus.

Interested participants can buy a Passe-partout for €10, which can be purchased online (see the banner at the top of the page), at participating museums and at the Visitor’s Center Leiden.

The summer’s heating up, and there’s so many things going on I don’t even know where to start. And now, there’s an entire website dedicated to discovering the summer in Leiden.

The months of June, July, August and September are full of activities and events in art, culture and music. The website “Zomer in Leiden” provides a comprehensive look at all of these, updated each Monday.

Mark this website and get ready to enjoy the summer months to the fullest.

It is quite hot out there. Like middle of the summer, is every window opened? type hot. And with summer come the cool evening concerts, among them I recommend....

Friday:

The Netherlands Air guitar Championship takes place at Paradiso, 8:30pm, €10 + membership.

Saturday:

Part of their summer concert series the Royal Netherlands Concertgebouw Orchestra plays in their house; 8:15pm, tickets range from €29 to €40.

Sunday:

Duff McKagan's Loaded (Velvet Revolver / ex-Guns N' Roses) has been touring the world, you can see them at Melkweg this Sunday; 8:30pm, €20 + membership.

In the city where I live, Amsterdam, there used to be a few people riding around on segways. However, 2 or 3 years ago, the futuristic transport devices seemed to disappear from the urban landscape. In 2007 there was supposed to have been a national ban on segways from public streets. Somehow in the beloved city of Delft in 2009, segway tours are still going strong.

A segway tour of Delft lasts about an hour. You can book it at the tourist information point, keeping in mind that its a minimum group of 4, otherwise you have to pay a surcharge. The €56, 60 minute tour is given by a professional guide, as is the €46, 45-minute tour. The tours depart 4 times daily, check the website for exact times.

While you may not be able to experience the wonder of seeing all Dutch cities by segway, it is still pretty cool that a city like Delft still offers you that unique option.

Looking for an excuse to get to know Den Haag better? There’s still a week left to go in the 2009 Hague Festivals. For the second year in a row, Den Haag is hosting a large number of events in the city, such as Festival Classique, The Hague Sculpture, Shopping Night, Dutch Veterans Day, and Parkpop.

For a full list of events, click here. To see photos of this year’s events, check this page.

It is time again for the Amsterdam Roots Festival. This Sunday you can enjoy, for free, national and international musical acts as well as browse the more than 100 stands that make up the festival.

Among the acts this year are names like: Natacha Atlas & The Mazeeka Ensemble, Zimbabwe's Chiwoniso, and Miami-based Locos Por Juana. Beyond the music, there will also be dance workshops and demonstrations of numerous styles like: salsa, samba, African dance, and tango.

Last year 60,000 people found their way to Oosterpark to enjoy the roots festival. This year organizers expect even more visitors to what has become one of the city's most loved festivals. Stands as well as performances will start around noon and continue til at least 9pm, giving you plenty of time to enjoy at least some of it.

One of my favorite Amsterdam-based bloggers, pia jane bijkerk, will be holding a book signing at the American Book Center located on the Spui in Amsterdam. She’ll be part of an event called Urban Culture, a celebration of the creative, the handmade, and the do-it yourself movement.

Pia will be signing her new book called Paris: Made by Hand. For a full listing of all participating artists and authors, see the American Book Center blog.

The book signing will take place on June 27th, and the American Book Center is located at Spui 12.

Those long summer days mean lots to do, see, and hear in Amsterdam. Here's a few for the weekend:

Saturday:

Finale of the Next Stage band contest, featuring great new bands from the BENELUX region; Melkweg, 6:30pm, €15 plus membership.

The Mike Del Ferro Trio is doing an excellent Brazilian music set at Bimhuis; 8:30, €15.

Sunday:

Nexus Instituut - Great! is the performance at the MuziekGebouw aan't Ij; 2pm, €26.

Monday:

LEWIS BLACK! The legendary American comedian is doing at show at Carré. I will be there: 8pm, only ticket range left is €29 and up.

Scandinavian singing sensation Lisa Ekdahl plays a rare sit down concert at Paradiso; 8:30pm, €18.50 plus membership.