My house mate Patricia and I took a day trip to Haarlem(only 15 minute by train from our house), back in early September. We had no idea that there was a festival going on, but got really lucky and stumbled into the annual summer festival. This meant tons of boats, music, food and fun! The city of Haarlem is beautiful, and even older than Amsterdam. There is a really neat cathedral in the center of town and great shops. We rented bicycles and went exploring, then took a canal tour. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon!
You can check out the pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/FoxCLaura/HaarlemSeptember2007?authkey=HgDEfI05-vs