City publishing, done plainly.
Daily newsletters, events calendars and business directories for Dutch cities. Written in plain English for the people who live there, free to read, and practical rather than promotional.
Our titles
Each city is its own publication, with its own sources, its own editor and its own readers.
Essentially Amsterdam
A free daily newsletter in English, a full events calendar, and a directory of local businesses across dozens of categories.
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Essentially The Hague
The same daily letter, calendar and directory, written for The Hague and the towns around it.
Visit the site →
Essentially Rotterdam
Next in line. The sources are being mapped and the calendar built before a single letter goes out.
Not yet live
Essentially Eindhoven
Following Rotterdam, on the same footing and the same publishing system.
Not yet liveWhat each title gives a city
Three things, done properly, rather than a dozen done thinly.
A daily letter
One email each morning: what happened yesterday, what is on today, and the things a resident actually needs to know. A few minutes to read, and free.
An events calendar
Every listing we can verify, gathered from venues, museums, theatres, festivals and the city’s own agenda, checked for the date and pointed at the organiser rather than a ticket reseller.
A local directory
Businesses and services by category with the practical details, so a newcomer can find a dentist, a gym or a bike shop without wading through advertising.
How we work
The same machinery under every title, so a new city starts properly rather than thinly.
Gathered, then checked
Well over a hundred local sources a day. We read the page behind a listing rather than trusting its summary, remove duplicates, and confirm an event is really happening on the day claimed.
Decided by an editor
Software does the gathering at a scale no person could manage. What reaches a reader is chosen by a person, every morning, without exception.
Never for sale
We do not publish press releases as news and we do not sell editorial coverage. Where something is paid for, it says so, every time.
Reaching people who live here
If your customers are in the city and deciding what to do this week, we can probably help.
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