Boardmasters, Forbidden Fruit, Superbloom, Pinkpop, All Points East, Love Supreme, Latitude, Syd For Solen, Colours of Ostrava, Pukkelpop and Open’er are among the raft of the festivals that have secured new names for their 2025 lineups.

Germany’s Superbloom has unveiled its first lineup announcement featuring international acts Post Malone, Nelly Furtado, Hozier, Tiësto, RAYE, and Suki Waterhouse, as well as top German acts such as 01099, Alligatoah, Montez, $OHO BANI, Juli, and Esther Graf. The fourth edition of the Goodlive-promoted event will take place between 30–31 August at Munich’s Olympic Park with 50,000 visitors per day.

Denmark’s Syd For Solen (South of the Sun) has secured Chappell Roan, Sam Fender and Queens of the Stone Age for headlining slots at this year’s festival in Valbyparken, Copenhagen. The 7–9 August event, promoted by Smash!Bang!Pow!, will also feature Mk.gee, Confidence Man, Overmono, Khruangbin, CMAT, Don West, MJ Lenderman & The Wind.

Chappell Roan has also been announced as a headliner for Pukkelpop 2025, along with Chase & Status and Oscar and the Wolf. The Belgian event will return to Kiewit, near Hasselt, between 14–17 August.

Poland’s biggest festival, Open’er, has added Grammy Award-winner Doechii to the lineup, as well as Lola Young. The Alter Art-promoted festival will return to Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport between 2–5 July.

In the Netherlands, Pinkpop‘s lineup is coming together with Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo and Muse set to headline. Tate McRae, Weezer, The Last Dinner Party, Cypress Hill, Korn, Biffy Clyro, and Girl In Red are also set to perform at the MOJO-promoted festival, taking place in Landgraaf between 20–22 June.

Love Supreme Jazz Festival has secured six-time Grammy-winning Jacob Collier for his first major festival headline appearance

Czech Republic’s Colours of Ostrava has announced FINNEAS, Iggy Pop, Justice, The Chainsmokers, Sting, Shaggy, Snow Patrol and more for its 22nd edition, taking place July 16 to 19 in Ostrava.

In the UK, Chase & Status will be making their All Points East debut on Saturday 16 August in east London. Their RTRN II DANCE takeover will feature special guests Overmono, Sammy Virji and Nia Archives. Chase & Status join previously announced headliners RAYE (Saturday 23 August), Barry Can’t Swim (Friday 22 August), and The Maccabees, who are headlining their first show in eight years on Sunday 24 August.

Elsewhere, it has been announced that The Kaiser Chiefs will return to Latitude as part of their 20th-anniversary celebrations. Leon Bridges, Air, Alison Moyet and Doves have also joined the lineup for the Festival Republic-promoted event, slated for 24–27 July in Henham Park, Suffolk. Previously announced headliners include Sting, Snow Patrol, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, and Elbow.

Boardmasters in Cornwall has announced Central Cee as the final headliner for the 2025 edition, joining RAYE and The Prodigy. Other new names for the Superstruct-backed festival include The Wombats, Sub Focus, Flo, Leigh-Anne, Krept & Konan, The Blessed Madonna, Caity Baser and Maverick Sabre. The event takes place at Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach from 6–10 August.

In Ireland, the 13th edition of Forbidden Fruit, promoted by POD in association with Aiken Promotions, is taking shape. In a full-circle moment, Jamie xx will return to the Dublin festival for his only Ireland show in 2025. Underworld, Caribou, Peggy Gou, Mall Grab, Glass Beams and FCUKERS are also on the bill for the 31 May to 1 June event at Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Love Supreme Jazz Festival has secured six-time Grammy-winning Jacob Collier for his only UK show of the year and his first major festival headline appearance. The UK event returns to Glynde Place in East Sussex from 4–6 July 2025, with Smokey Robinson, En Vogue, Maxwell, War, Thee Sacred Souls and more.

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Rod Stewart will play the Sunday teatime legend slot at next year’s Glastonbury – his first performance at Worthy Farm since headlining the Pyramid Stage in 2002.

The singer is the first artist confirmed for the 2025 festival, which takes place from 25-29 June.

“I’m proud, ready and more than able to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury in June,” says the 79-year-old, who recently said he will be done with “large-scale world tours” when his current run of dates is complete.

The music legend has a number of shows locked in for 2025, including North American tours in February/March, Las Vegas residencies in March and May/June, a European tour in April/May and another North American tour in July/August.

The Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza concert, meanwhile, will return on 9 August with a headline set from The Script.

Also in the UK, Charli XCX is the first headliner revealed for Parklife, set for Manchester’s Heaton Park on 14-15 June. Also unveiled are Confidence Man, Interplanetary Criminal, DJ Heartstring, KI/KI, Girls Don’t Sync, Prospa, Chaos In The CBD, Antony Szmierek, Sim0ne, Bakey, Jodie Harsh and Gina Breeze, with the full programme to be announced in January.

Charli XCX is also curating her own festival, Party Girl, as part of AEG’s new Lido Festival at London’s Victoria Park on 14 June. Guest stars will include her Brat collaborators 070 Shake, A. G. Cook, Bladee, Kelly Lee Owens, The Dare and The Japanese House.

In addition, sustainability-led festival We Love Green will return to Paris, France, from 6-8 June with an exclusive French performance from Charli XCX, who will be joined by Magdalena Bay, Parcels, Horsegiirl, Spill Tab, Kavinsky and Air, among others.

Oslo’s Øya Festival (5-9 August) will star Chappell Roan, who will perform her first concert in Norway. The event has also announced Queens of the Stone Age, Girl in Red, Khruangbin, Fontaines D.C., Wet Leg, The Mary Wallopers, Kneecap, Anna of the North, Nilüfer Yanya, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, The Impossible Green and Anna Lille.

Pinkpop will be topped by Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo and Muse

Dutch institution Pinkpop (20-22 June) in Megaland, Landgraaf, will be topped by Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo and Muse. Also on the bill are the likes of Oscar and the Wolf, The Last Dinner Party, Korn, Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Bad Nerves, Girl in Red, Kaiser Chiefs, Confidence Man, Mika, Cypress Hill, Purple Disco Machine and The Warning.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, Paaspop will host Faithless, Loreen, Son Mieux, UB40, Joost, Frenna & the Gang, Goldband and The Kooks, among others.

Pohoda (10-12 July) in Slovakia boasts Iggy Pop, Queens of the Stone Age and Fontaines D.C., alongside acts such as JPEGMAFIA, Deadletter, JME, Joey Valence & Brae, Blondshell, Bambie Thug, BSÍ, Barcelona Gipsy BalKan Orchestra and Maruja.

Back in the UK, Kasabian, Courteeners, Nothing But Thieves and Bloc Party head Truck Festival‘s 2025 edition at Hill Farm, Oxfordshire, from 24-27 July. The Last Dinner Party, Blossoms, Franz Ferdinand, Wunderhorse, Reytons, Hard Life, CMAT, Sports Team and Natasha Bedingfield are also on the bill.

Tramlines (25-27 July) in Hillsborough Park, Sheffield, will be headed by hometown favourites Pulp, who will also curate the opening day, Reytons and Kasabian. Other acts include Spiritualized, Franz Ferdinand, The Last Dinner Party, Baxter Dury, John Grant, Rizzle Kicks, Natasha Bedingfield, Jake Bugg, The Lathums, Sigrid and CMAT.

The team behind the UK’s oldest independent festival Towersey, which came to an end this year, are planning a new chapter with the launch of a boutique event Found Festival (22-24 August) at Claydon Estate, Buckingham. Billed as a place to discover “head-turners not headliners” the soon-to-be-released programme will comprise Americana, folk, country, roots, blues and world music.

Meanwhile, new one-day festival Rock the Castle (19 July) will showcase Welsh music at Cardiff Castle, featuring Funeral For A Friend, The Blackout, Punk Rock Factory, Casey, Dream State and Kill The Lights.

And Ireland’s All Together Now (31 July-3 August) returns to Curraghmore Estate, Co. Waterford for its sixth edition, with acts including Fontaines D.C., Bicep present Chroma, CMAT, Wet Leg, Michael Kiwanuka, Leftfield, John Grant and English Teacher.

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Pinkpop festival manager Niek Murray has announced his departure from the Dutch festival and its parent company MOJO after over 20 years.

Murray joined the organisation in 2002 as an intern before becoming a marketing executive and then the right-hand man of former festival manager Jan Smeets.

When Smeets retired in 2020 after 50+ years at the helm, Murray succeeded him in the top position at the 70,000-capacity Limburg event.

According to Murray, his decision to leave Live Nation-backed MOJO was mutually agreed upon. His replacement has not yet been announced.

“With the last three editions of Pinkpop, we have determined the new festival direction with a well-oiled team”

“With the last three editions of Pinkpop, we have determined the new festival direction with an increasingly expanded and well-oiled team and have already made great strides in this direction,” says Murray.

“That is why it feels somewhat ambiguous to me to take this step now, but I am confident that in this way I am making room for a new direction in my career.”

Launched in 1970, Pinkpop is organised by Mojo Concerts and is now the longest-running open-air festival in the world.

This year’s festival took place between 21–23 June in Megaland in Landgraaf with acts including Ed Sheeran, Avril Lavigne, Nothing But Thieves, Måneskin, Sam Smith, Calvin Harris, Limp Bizkit and more.

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With the 2024 festival season now upon us, a number of forthcoming events are unveiling their completed bills.

Germany’s Superbloom Festival has announced OneRepublic as its final headliner, joining acts such as Sam Smith, Calvin Harris and Shirin David at Munich’s Olympic Park on 7-8 September. The 50,000-cap festival debuted in 2022 and will also feature The Chainsmokers, Burna Boy, Louis Tomlinson, Nothing But Thieves, RIN, Tokio Hotel, Niall Horan, Jorja Smith and Kenya Grace, among others.

In Portugal, Super Bock Super Rock will be headlined by Måneskin, 21 Savage and Stormzy, backed by the likes of Royal Blood, Tom Morello, Black Coffee, Slow J, Mahalia, Fisher, Vulfpeck and Will Butler on Meco Beach, South Lisbon, from 18-20 July.

Måneskin and Royal Blood will also grace legendary Dutch festival Pinkpop, which will also welcome superstars such as Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, Keane, Nothing But Thieves, Avril Lavigne, Hozier, Greta Van Fleet, Louis Tomlinson, Yungblud, Pendulum, Babymetal, James Arthur, Oliver Heldens, Corey Taylor and Jane’s Addiction to Landgraaf between 21-23 June.

Plus, the third edition of La Prima Estate in Tuscany, Italy, will star Peggy Gou, Paolo Nutini, Fontaines DC, Kasabian, Phoenix, Jane’s Addiction, Dinosaur Jr and Michael Kiwanuka across two weekends – 14-16 & 21-23 June.

Multi-day London open-air concert series South Facing Festival will host headliners Grace Jones (26 July), Future Islands (27 July), Popcaan’s Unruly Fest (28 July), The Roots, De La Soul and The Pharcyde (1 August), Cloud X (2 August),Major League DJz (3 August), Yussef Dayes presents Summer Dayes (4 August), Jess Glynne (9 August) and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley (10 August).

Meanwhile, the 12th Elbjazz Festival in Hamburg, Germany, will be topped by Faithless, Jungle, The Streets and BADBADNOTGOOD from 7-8 June.

Taking place in creative hub Nuanu City, 15 minutes outside of Canggu, from 26-28 July, Bali’s Suara Festival has dropped its phase two lineup with talent including Neil Frances, Youngr, Brandt Brauer Frick, Ramengvrl, Yung Raja and Aussies Angus and Julia Stone. Previously announced acts include LP Giobbi, HVOB (live), Rodriguez Jr. (live), Mansionair and Lastlings, as well as Geju, Deer Jade and Sainte Vie (live).

Elsewhere, Oasis Festival returns to the The Source in Marrakech, Morocco, from 6-8 September. Its first wave of acts includes Laurent Garnier, Jungle, Amine K, HAAi, Jyoty and TSHA.

And Latin music spectacular Besame Mucho Festival will return to Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium on 21 December, topped by Shakira. It will showcase more than 65 artists including Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Los Tigres del Norte, Juanes, Banda MS, Enanitos Verdes.

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Dutch festival Down The Rabbit Hole sold out in less than 45 minutes of going on sale last Saturday (2 December).

All 45,000 tickets to the three-day event at De Groene Heuvels near Ewijk have been purchased, despite a price increase of €25 to €280 since last year.

More than half of the tickets were sold during the pre-sale and the remaining half were swept up during the general sale on Saturday 2 December at 11 am.

“People were ready at eleven o’clock. The tickets were gone almost instantly,” a spokesperson for Down The Rabbit Hole told AD. “It just takes a while before the system actually indicates this. First, all sales processes must be completely completed.”

“The tickets were gone almost instantly”

The sell-out marks a new record for the Mojo Concerts-promoted event, which took three days to run out of tickets last year.

Next year’s festival will see the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Michael Kiwanuka, The National, Jungle, Raye, Jessie Ware and Khruangbin perform at the 5–7 July festival.

Live Nation-backed Mojo also promotes Lowlands, North Sea Jazz and Pinkpop – which today announced its 2024 lineup, with Ed Sheeran, Måneskin and Calvin Harris topping the bill.

Nothing But Thieves, Sam Smith, Avril Lavigne, Hozier, Limp Bizkit and Greta Van Fleet are also set to perform at Pinkpop in Megaland Landgraaf between 21–23 June 2024.

Lowlands and North Sea Jazz are yet to announce acts for their 2024 instalments.

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A handful of top agents and festival bookers reflected on the power of festival lineups, audiences’ spending patterns and the impact of social media in the second panel of the 2023 International Festival Forum (IFF).

Moderated by Ticketmaster’s Dan Pearce (UK), today’s ‘The Audience Session — Community Matters’ panel brought together Niek Murraij (Pinkpop Festival, Netherlands), Virág Csiszár (Sziget Festival, Hungary), Sophie Roberts (United Talents Agency, UK), and David Mogendorff (TikTok, UK) at London’s Omeara venue.

As TikTok’s head of artist services across Europe, Mogendorff praised the impact the app has had in driving engagement and excitement towards annual summer festivities.

“It’s been an incredible year for festival content on TikTok,” he said. “We saw a huge amount of growth during the lockdown period. And over the last two years, we’ve seen some great content coming from artists and festivals, but mainly from fans.”

Having analysed around 100 festivals across the UK, Pearce pointed out that 2023 saw a 15% increase in ticket sales compared to last year. While it’s a “standout statistic”, he noted that it tends to change on a yearly basis, confirming a long-held theory that festival-goers care more about who’s on the lineup than the actual festival experience itself — which includes being in a safe environment, on top of other factors such as food & beverage and availability of facilities.

“Festivals have to be clever with the way they announce lineups… so that tickets can be purchased much earlier”

It’s a sentiment Roberts agreed with. “The lineup remains king,” she said. “It’s great that people care about the music, but that’s also been difficult for festival organisers because of the huge amount of stadium business happening right now,” also citing how vital lineup announcements are when it comes to selling tickets as quickly as possible.

“Add the fact that there’s only a finite amount of ad space, and people will only have a certain amount of attention for lineups coming out. Nowadays, festivals have to be clever with the way they announce lineups to ensure maximum attendance so that tickets can be purchased much earlier than they have been in recent times.”

“It’s a tricky situation to navigate, but we always want to announce lineups as early as possible,” Csiszár said. “Lineups are still very important to people, and the data being shown reflects this. Their satisfaction correlates with the acts booked to perform upon the official announcement.”

Another major talking point was the role of volunteer staff contributing to festivals, with Pearce also mentioning how some UK festivals received bad press for making volunteers pay a deposit that they will get back if they turn up to their allocated shifts accordingly. However, the rest of the panel were effusive in their praise for volunteers (Pearce stated they were the “lifeline of the post-pandemic festivals”), highlighting the important role they played as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic.

“We had a lot of last-minute volunteers this year,” Murraij said. “However, we were able to foster a great community with those who attended for work and did their duties in a diligent manner. We’re thankful for working with a focused group of volunteers, who consistently showed up for their shifts, and we can create a great bond with them for many years.”

“While it’s important to have local acts in our lineups, we have to manage international fans’ expectations”

Alongside the increased role of volunteers in ensuring that festivals run smoothly, the panel rounded off their discussion with the rising prominence of local/domestic talents in major shows — which has been another knock-on effect brought about by the pandemic.

“Over the last few years, we’ve seen a massive growth in local music and in the UK and other markets around Europe,” Mogendorff said. “Some of it has been caused by the decreasing influence the US has over the musical landscape as well, with talents from Africa and the Far East also racking up huge listener numbers in recent years.”

“I’m not sure that we’ll see a Dutch act headline a major festival yet, but compared to a decade ago, we’re certainly seeing more Dutch acts on our bill,” says Murraij. “They’re selling out venues like the 17,000-capacity Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam right now, and there’s bigger demand for domestic acts these days.”

However, Murraij did note that headliners will retain an international majority for the time being, which Csiszár agreed with. “While it’s important to have local acts in our lineups, we have to manage international fans’ expectations and have those global talents as headliners on the main stage,” she said. “Saying that, it’s very pleasing to see Hungarian artists do very well in stadium shows across the country.”

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Pinkpop manager Niek Murray has delivered his verdict on this year’s festival and opened up on its rumoured expansion plans in a new interview with IQ.

Headlined by Pink, Robbie Williams and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the 70,000-cap Dutch institution enjoyed a late surge in ticket sales for its latest edition, held at Megaland in Landgraaf from 16-18 June.

“We sold a lot of tickets in the last week,” Murray tells IQ. “We ended up with around 62,500 people each day – 42,000 weekend tickets and 20,500 day tickets. We sold out our Glampink luxury area with 2,000 visitors. Last year, we had 1,000 capacity and this year we doubled it and sold out as well.”

Musical highlights also included well-received sets by Queens of the Stone Age, The War on Drugs and the Black Keys, while Murray was similarly effusive in his praise for domestic acts such as DI-RECT.

Launched in 1970, Pinkpop is organised by Mojo Concerts and is now the longest-running open-air festival in the world. Founder Jan Smeets stepped back from his role as festival director in 2020 after 50 years at the helm. While a wave of new features were introduced in 2022 following its two-year Covid-enforced hiatus, including changes to the layout of the site, this year’s vintage was an all-round more straightforward affair.

“We had to price the tickets €30 higher for the weekend. It’s not that we wanted to do it, but we had to do it as all costs have increased”

“We had a huge transformation last year, so this time it was more about fine tuning with the feedback we got from our audience and our crew,” explains Murray. “We had a lot of challenges last year, as everybody did after Covid. But we have worked with some of our suppliers for 30 or 40 years and they were more prepared for this year.

“We had a Bruce Springsteen concert on the site a week before so had already built a lot of infrastructure for Pinkpop. Also, the weather made the build very easy, so everyone was relaxed when the festival started – not like last year when it was over 30 degrees and too hot. This year, it was around 28 degrees but it was doable. So the crew was very relaxed, the audience was very relaxed and I think most of the acts were very relaxed and very happy. For me, it was one of the best festivals we’ve done in the last 20 years.”

Full-day festival tickets cost €135, with weekend tickets priced from €275 and special Wilhelmina Sky Deck passes from €370 (day tickets) and €840 for the weekend.

“Sky Deck, our VIP package, was also sold out with 600 people a day, so we are very pleased with the numbers,” notes Murray. “Overall, costs have exploded. It’s more expensive to produce the festival and that’s why we had to price the tickets €30 higher for the weekend. It’s not that we wanted to do it, but we had to do it as all costs have increased.”

“One of the things we’ve talked about is maybe adding an extra day, or trying to have more people on site”

Murray also plays down recent reports that Pinkpop is looking to add a fourth day and grow its daily visitors by 10,000.

“We’re still young; it was our 52nd edition so we have a lot of years to go,” he laughs. “Jan Smeets, our founder and longtime director, stepped back in 2020 and we’re now completely owned by Mojo Concerts, so we are talking a lot more about the future of the festival with our colleagues.

“Each year, we talk about how we see the Pinkpop festival developing in the next 10, 20, 25 years. And one of the things we’ve talked about is maybe adding an extra day, or trying to have more people on site. But that depends on the service we can provide, so there are ideas, but no concrete plans at the moment.

“But we don’t want to stand still. We want to try to make the festival better each year. If that means that in five years, we have an extra day, maybe, maybe not – I’m not sure at this moment. But there are possibilities and we want to explore them and see what’s good and possible for Pinkpop, so that we can have this conversation again in 50 years about our 105th edition!”

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Another spate of European festivals have announced headliners and main stage artists for their 2023 editions.

Dutch festival Pinkpop has confirmed that British pop star Robbie Williams will return to Landgraaf for the first time since 2015.

He will close out Saturday night at the festival – which is said to be “the oldest and longest-running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world” – while P!nk will top the bill on the Friday night. English indie rock band Editors and Dutch electronic band Goldband are also on the 2023 bill.

The 52nd edition of Pinkpop, promoted by Live Nation-owned Mojo Concerts, will take place between 16–18 June, next year.

Williams is also set to perform at the UK’s Isle of Wight festival, alongside Pulp, George Ezra and Chemical Brothers. Sugarbabes, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Anne-Marie, Gabrielle, Blondie and Ella Henderson have also been confirmed for the event, which runs between 15–18 June in Seaclose Park, Newport.

The festival is promoted by Solo Agency’s John Giddings and Live Nation.

Lowlands: “The oldest and longest-running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world”

Elsewhere in the UK, DF Concert’s TRNSMT festival will see Pulp, George Ezra, Niall Horan, Sam Fender, Kasabian, The 1975 and Royal Blood perform at Glasgow Green in Scotland between 7–9 July next year.

Further South in the UK, Latitude will bring Pulp, Paulo Nutini, George Ezra, The Kooks, Metronomy to Henham Park, Suffolk, between 20–23 July.

In Poland, promoter Alter Art has announced Arctic Monkeys for the 2023 edition of Open’er, slated for 28 June to 1 July at Gdynia-Kosakowo in Gdynia. The English rockstars will close the Orange Main Stage on the Friday night, in support of their new album The Car.

And in neighbouring Czech Republic, Colours of Ostrava have confirmed US pop rock band One Republic as the first headliner for next year’s instalment, set for 19–22 July at Dolní Vítkovice in Ostrava.

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Netherlands’ legendary Pinkpop festival has paid a special tribute to departing founder Jan Smeets in recognition of his 50 years at the helm.

Smeets organised the first edition of Pinkpop at the age of 25 in 1970, and the Landgraaf event is now the longest-running open-air festival in the world, but announced he was stepping back from his role as festival director in 2020, with his team continuing to organise Pinkpop in collaboration with Live Nation’s Mojo Concerts.

But with the event cancelled for the past two years due to pandemic, this year’s edition – held from 17-19 June – provided the first chance for the man known in the Netherlands as ‘Mr Pinkpop’ to bid farewell to the crowd in person.

“The audience waved, cheered and clapped for him after he got on stage, where we first showed footage of Jan from the 1970s to 2019 on the screens,” Pinkpop festival manager Niek Murray tells IQ. “It was a very emotional moment for all of us, but he deserved a proper goodbye.”

“A lot of good people have left the festival world and it will take some time to get back to the level we were before Covid”

Highly regarded both in his homeland and internationally, Smeets is also an officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, a longstanding ILMC member, a founder of Yourope (the European Festival Association) and a winner of festival association VNPF’s lifetime achievement award.

While taking a step back for health reasons, he has stated his intention to stay on at Pinkpop in an advisory capacity.

This year’s festival, headlined by Metallica, Pearl Jam and Imagine Dragons, drew two-sold out 70,000-cap crowds for its first two nights and 57,250 for the final day. A total of 44,500 weekend tickets were sale alongside 63,750 day tickets.

With other acts including Twenty One Pilots, Royal Blood, Maneskin, Deftones and Nile Rodgers + Chic, Murray tells IQ it felt “unbelievable” to be back in business following Pinkpop’s two-year hiatus.

“The second day was the hottest in the history of the festival”

“Everybody was so happy to be on site,” he says. “Overall, it went fine. The first day was a bit rusty, but the visitors did not really have any issues with that. There were more cancellations of volunteers and staff than normal, but we managed it.

“A lot of good people have left the festival world and it will take some time to get back to the level we were before Covid. During the build and preparation, some issues with staff shortages at our suppliers caused delays, but we made it and opened everything on time.

“The first day of the festival was hot, the second day was very hot – 35/36 degrees – the hottest day in the history of the festival. We provided a lot of free water taps, more shelters on site and our medical staff worked there asses off, but there were no huge problems.”

Murray also discusses a number of the new features brought in for 2022 including changes to the layout of the site.

“Our North Stage [cap 30,000] was turned 180 degrees and is now facing our South Stage (previously named Mainstage, cap. 70,000]. We also moved our TentStage [10,000] to the previous place of our North Stage and we created more sitting spots and shelters around the Tent Stage.

“We also introduced our Wilhemina Sky Deck, with packages including drinks/food etc, which was a very nice place to watch the concerts on a ‘higher level’.”

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Key promoters in the Netherlands have aired concerns about the industry’s acute staff shortages and its impact on the forthcoming festival summer.

Labour shortages have been a widespread issue in the international live music industry, with many markets reporting a “talent exodus”.

According to Dutch publication 3voor12, concerts in the Netherlands are already being cancelled because there is not enough staff available, festivals are being forced to start building earlier and headliners are toying with the idea of smaller productions.

John Mulder, CEO of Live Nation-owned concert and festival promoter Mojo, says he is “very concerned about this summer. There are huge logistical challenges, both in international touring and at a local level in terms of crews and people.”

The Mojo boss says it is difficult to get staff and crew, and that trucks are “a big problem” this summer.

“There are huge logistical challenges, both in international touring and at a local level”

“There are already acts that have to leave things at home because they can’t get the number of trucks. Instead of 16 trucks, headliners will probably come with less. All those rock ‘n roll trucking companies are running on only 30-40% of their staff and have sold a lot of trucks. There are no new trucks for sale due to the chip problem. But money rules, huh? At some point, of course, acts will make all kinds of crazy jumps to get stuff from A to B.”

Meanwhile, Mojo-promoted festival Pinkpop has been forced to start site construction a month ahead of schedule due to this issue.

“We mainly see problems with suppliers: the tent builders, for example, and the fencing suppliers,” said Pinkpop festival manager Niek Murray. “The pink tent has already been erected on the site because otherwise, it would not work out in the planning. We are already buffering fencing because there was no transporter to deliver it at the normal time.

“In short: three weeks ago we already started building, while we would normally only start next week. If we hadn’t had such a good relationship with the terrain, I don’t know if we would have made it all, but we didn’t have to drastically change things.”

In February, Mojo launched a new platform (www.festivalbanen.nl) featuring hundreds of festival jobs, in a bid to counteract the major staff shortage in the sector.

Many of the employers listed on the website operate at festivals including Lowlands, Pinkpop, NN North Sea Jazz, Down The Rabbit Hole and Woo Hah! x Rolling Loud.

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