Kaboom Animation Festival is the one-stop-shop for the latest and greatest in all things animated. Ranging from cutting-edge experimental arthouse to colorful stories for families and kids, Kaboom will cater to the animation needs of all. Yes, even yours, my amazing weirdo friend!

In 2025, our beloved Kaboom Animation Festival will take place from 21 till 23 March in Utrecht and from 27 till 30 March in Amsterdam (and online!). We can’t wait to see you there!

What is Kaboom?

That’s us! Nice to meet you. Simply put: Kaboom adores animation. We live it, we breathe it, we devour it like an unguarded bag of cookies. At Kaboom, we believe animation is not just a genre of film: it’s more than film. It’s a perplexingly diverse medium that offers us so much more than anvils falling on coyotes. Because we want to shout this from the rooftops, we created Kaboom Animation Festival, a progressive and inclusive festival in the Netherlands that celebrates animation in all its glorious shapes and sizes. It’s the place where we encourage auteurs to drag us out of our comfort zone by presenting us with their thought provoking art, mind-blowing design efforts and provocative experimentation.

So what about this festival you were talking about?

Kaboom Animation Festival is the one-stop shop for the latest and greatest in all things animated. It’s the place where we showcase our explosive passion for animation, and where we try to be modest about our gigantuan knowledge of it. The goal? Providing creators (both seasoned talent and fresh spring chickens) with the platform they deserve, and serving you the animation cream of the animation crop. We aim to combine cutting-edge experimental arthouse with the very best of what animation has to offer. Think fun, art, awe and wonder, on the big screen and behind it, and for all generations. With our theme program, we also try to make you think about larger issues at play in society—all without lecturing you, because we’re curators, not reverends.

What is it about animation that gets you guys so hot and bothered?

Animation can do so many things. Animation can be unnerving and uplifting, harrowing and hilarious. It can break your heart or make you pull a muscle laughing. Yes, it’s entertainment, but it can also tackle sensitive subjects and challenge your preconceptions. Animation can do all that. Phew, is it us or did it just get hot in here.

Wait a minute, that sounds a lot like what KLIK and HAFF have been doing in the past decade. Are you plagiarizing them? I’m calling the cops.

Actually, Kaboom is the love child of these two animation festivals! In 2019, KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival and Holland Animation Film Festival realized that their differences could be used to complement each other and propel themselves forward into the future. We decided to join hands and work on our shared, progressive goal of a brand-new animation festival that truly has it all. A yearly event where professionals and fans meet, inspire each other and enjoy the latest and greatest animation has to offer, all while celebrating the Dutch animation industry.