Photos by Blanche van Doorn

Some of us may still be carrying a little bowling alley trauma. The children’s birthday parties, the painfully competitive friends, the humiliation of watching your ball roll straight into the gutter while everyone pretends not to notice. And don’t even get us started on the rental shoes.

But hear us out. Bowling is having a moment, and last night, we found ourselves rather taken with the whole affair. Even the shoes were unexpectedly flattering. Then again, with fashion houses like Prada making a case for bowling-inspired silhouettes, perhaps we should have seen this coming. Who knew a trip to the bowling alley could double as a fashion moment?

The occasion? 55 years of Knijn, Amsterdam’s beloved bowling institution at Scheldeplein, which celebrated its birthday and grand reopening last night. And after more than half a century of strikes, spares and questionable techniques, the place has had quite the makeover.

Founded in 1971, Knijn has been part of Amsterdam’s social fabric for generations. From children’s parties and first dates to evenings that went on a little longer than planned, chances are you’ve found yourself there at some point. Now run by sisters Ilse and Olga Knijn, the family business has undergone its biggest renovation yet, giving the Amsterdam classic a new lease on life without losing the charm that made it an institution in the first place.

Think warm wooden accents, a wonderfully retro colour palette, the return of its original 1971 logo and a reimagined bar that feels like something straight out of a ’70s film. It’s nostalgic without feeling stuck in the past, and suddenly bowling seems like a perfectly reasonable excuse to get dressed up and go out.

Naturally, we had to investigate.

With Cristal Ball providing the soundtrack, we joined some for an evening of good company, healthy competition and a few spectacular misses.

We tried our best to stay in our lane, although some of us had considerably more success with that than others. There were strikes, there were gutter balls and there were people taking the scoreboard a little more seriously than we’d anticipated. 

55 years in, Knijn is still rolling.