Rock Werchter founder and Live Nation Belgium CEO Herman Schueremans says the festival has seen its fastest-ever ticket sales for next year’s edition.

With the Belgian festival turning 50 next year, Rock Werchter organisers have secured a blockbuster lineup headlined by Linkin Park, Green Day, Sam Fender and Olivia Rodrigo.

The anniversary event, slated for 3-6 July 2025 at Werchter Festival Park, will also feature performances from Deftones, Simple Minds, Raye, Noah Kahan, Fontaines DC, Girl in Red, Gracie Abrams and Maribou State.

The bill has been met with audience approval, with 89,000 tickets (combi and day) sold in 10 days and a further 11,500 sold last week after the 5 December lineup announcement.

“We are very pleased with the lineup as it is once more an eclectic mix of genres from artists at all levels – from top artists to mid-size and upcoming artists – all with the potential of a long-term career,” Schueremans tells IQ.

With strong sales across LN Belgium’s stable of events, the CEO believes that the secret to success in the festival world is evolution.

“An artist is only as good as his last show – that also applies to festival promotors and teams”

“There will be a continuation of the challenges we saw in previous years – rising costs and artists fees and there will be too many festivals,” he says. “So organisers need to renew the way festivals are experienced, from how audiences travel to how they recycle to their health and safety.

“An artist is only as good as his last show – that also applies to festival promotors and teams. Passion instead of routine – that’s what will determine whether a festival is successful or not.”

Another LN Belgium festival enjoying success is Rock Werchter’s sister event TW Classic, which sold out within 90 minutes of going on sale.

The one-day event saw 55,000 tickets priced at €133 snapped up, following the announcement of Robbie Williams and Bryan Adams as headliners.

Texas, Skunk Anansie, Lottery Winners and Portland are also set to perform at the festival, which takes place on 28 June 2025 at Werchter Festival Park, the weekend before Rock Werchter.

As Schueremans points out, the four top-billing artists for TW Classic 2025 all have a place within Rock Werchter’s legacy.

“Value for money is one of our key baselines”

Bryan Adams, Robbie Williams, Texas and Skunk Anansie performed on the same Rock Werchter bill 25 years ago, while Adams was featured on TW Classic’s first-ever line-up in 2002.

It’s not just the artists who will enjoy a homecoming at next year’s TW Classic but also the organisers, who cancelled the 2024 event after admitting they had failed to put together a top line-up for each of the day festivals.

“Our bar is high and we always aim for the best. Mediocrity is not an option,” they said in a statement at the time.

Werchter Boutique, another sister festival in the same location that takes place the weekend after Rock Werchter, was also called off this year and will return in 2025.

“The two headliners for Werchter Boutique 2024 decided not to tour, so we decided not to do it this year as we only want to deliver and present top-quality bills to our audiences,” explains Schueremans. “Value for money is one of our key baselines.”

Taking place on 12 July 2025, Werchter Boutique has so far confirmed Imagine Dragons for a headline set, with support from Declan McKenna. Ticket sales are currently up to 50,000 and with the final lineup announcement set for 11 December, the event is expected to sell out before Christmas.

“Our audiences are treated well as kings and queens and enjoy it and come back”

Both one-day festivals have been reduced from 60,000 capacity to 55,000 to “give the fans more comfort on the site and help the flow of cars, bicycles and public transport,” adds Schueremans.

Other Live Nation Belgium festivals Graspop Metal Meeting (est. 1996) and Dour (est. 1989) are also selling well, while Pukkelpop’s lineup will be announced in February.

Inclement weather at this year’s Graspop hasn’t put a dampener on demand for 2025, as the four-day metal festival in Dessel saw 40,000 tickets fly off the shelf within the first 48 hours of going on sale.

“It’s a top start, as in 2024,” comments Schueremans. “Graspop has a loyal and dedicated audience.”

Commenting on the promoter’s success across the board, Schueremans says: “Our audience likes going to our festivals as they get value for money, are treated well as kings and queens and enjoy it and come back. Not only artists want to stay forever young but also music lovers. Music unites.”

Read the IQ feature on Schueremans’ 50 years in the business here.

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Belgium’s TW Classic sold out in 90 minutes following the announcement of Robbie Williams and Bryan Adams as headliners.

Williams will top the festival’s lineup for the first time since 2015 as part of his highly anticipated Robbie Williams Live 2025 outing.

The billing was met with high demand when around 60,000 tickets priced at €133 flew off the shelves in 90 minutes last Friday (15 November).

It marked a spectacular comeback for Rock Werchter’s sister event which was called off last year along with Werchter Boutique.

At the time, organisers said they had failed to put together a top line-up for each of the day festivals. “Our bar is high and we always aim for the best. Mediocrity is not an option,” they added.

Last Friday, around 60,000 tickets priced at €133 flew off the shelves within an hour and a half

Established in 2022 as a “tribute to the early days of Rock Werchter,” the festival has previously featured artists such as Bruce Springsteen, P!nk, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Florence + The Machine, Placebo, The Kid Laroi, The Smile and more.

The Live Nation Belgium-promoted event will return on Saturday 28 June 2025 to Festivalpark in Werchter, which is also home to Rock Werchter and Werchter Boutique.

Werchter Boutique is also set to make a comeback on Saturday 12 July 2025, with a headline set by Imagine Dragons and support from Declan McKenna among others.

Meanwhile, the lineup for the 50th edition of Rock Werchter (3–6 July) is shaping up, with Olivia Rodrigo, Green Day, Linkin Park and Sam Fender topping the bill.

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Live Nation Belgium CEO and Rock Werchter founder Herman Schueremans says this summer has been a “happy rebirth of festivals after two years of Covid”.

With a slate of sold-out festivals and concerts, Schueremans has hailed the season as “even better than 2019” and says that Belgium’s recovery is “well in line with the rest of Europe”.

A key highlight for Schueremans was Rock Werchter’s record sell-out which saw 66,000 combi-tickets and 80,000 one-day tickets fly off the shelf by the start of February – months earlier than usual.

Imagine Dragons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers and Metallica were among the acts that performed at Belgium’s biggest festival, which took place between 30 June to 3 July in Festivalpark, Werchter.

Sister festivals Werchter Boutique (cap. 60,000) and TW Classic (60,000) also sold out. However one-off event Rock Werchter Encore was called off just one month after it was announced due to “high production costs, staff shortages, and low consumer confidence”.

Elsewhere in LN Belgium’s stable of festivals, Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel sold out after its capacity was expanded from 50,000 capacity to 52,000 to match high demand.

The renowned heavy metal festival, which took place across four days, sold 42,500 combi tickets and 40,000 day tickets, drawing 82,500 unique attendees.

Schueremans has hailed the season as “even better than 2019”

Capitalising further on pent-up demand for festivals, Rock Werchter also launched a new two-day festival in Brussels in partnership with fellow Belgian festival behemoth Tomorrowland.

Core debuted between 27–28 May this year in Osseghem Park, a picturesque nature area in the Belgian capital, featuring an eclectic bill topped by Stormzy, Jamie xx and Mura Masa.

“It was a promising first year with a happy audience, happy artists and happy crew. It will do very well in 2023,” says Schueremans, who attributes the festival’s success to the synergy of the Rock Werchter and Tomorrowland teams.

“We brought both teams together again and made it work like clockwork. They took care of the look of the festival site and gave it a unique feel and our team took care of the artist bill. Together we are strong,” he adds.

Live Nation Belgium has also enjoyed an extraordinary summer of concerts, selling out four stadium shows for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour. With 220,000 tickets sold, Schueremans says it is a new record in Belgium.

And the promoter’s sell-out success is already seeping into next year, having sold out TW Classic (18 June 2023) with headliner Bruce Springsteen, and Harry Styles’ show at Werchter Park (24 June 2023).

Werchter Boutique (17 June 2023) and Rock Werchter (29–30 June and 1–2 July 2023) will also return next year and will soon be announced.

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Rock Werchter founder Herman Schueremans says that the festival’s record sell-out is a sign of things to come, as he gears up for his busiest festival summer in years.

The organisers yesterday (9 February) announced that the 2022 edition of Belgium’s biggest festival is now completely sold out – and far earlier than expected.

“We normally sell out in April or May or early June… this time we are sold on 9 February,” Schueremans tells IQ.

This year’s Rock Werchter shifted 67,000 combi-tickets and four lots of 21,000 one-day tickets, some of which were sold at the price advertised in 2020 and some at an increased rate.

“After it became clear in the autumn that costs were going to increase, we increased Rock Werchter tickets from 1 December 2021. However, we informed our fans mid-November that we had to do that due to increased production costs, so they had 2 weeks to buy at the 2020 price.”

With increased ticket prices and pent-up demand across the board, Schueremans is aware that audiences expect more from festivals this year but says that “delivering a top bill and top service is part of our DNA”.

“Our 2022 bill is again a strong one with an eclectic mix of strong headliners, midsize acts (the headliners of the future) and new acts in all genres,” he maintains.

“Delivering a top bill and top service is part of our DNA”

Imagine Dragons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers and Metallica are among the acts billed to perform at the marquee event, scheduled for 30 June to 3 July in Festivalpark, Werchter.

Rock Werchter isn’t the only festival selling well according to Schueremans, who is also the CEO of Live Nation Belgium. The promoter has also reported “excellent” ticket sales for its other Festivalpark events too.

Werchter Boutique (19 June) with Gorillaz and Stromae has sold 43,000 tickets, while TW Classic (25 June) with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Placebo and The Smile has sold 40,000 tickets. Ticket prices for both events stayed the same.

Elsewhere in LN Belgium’s stable of events, Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel was expanded from 50,000 capacity to 52,000 after most tickets sold out in early November.

Capitalising further on the pent-up demand, Rock Werchter recently announced a new two-day festival in Brussels, in partnership with fellow Belgian festival behemoth Tomorrowland.

According to Schueremans, Core won’t be the only new event on their festival calendar this year: “Lots of Werchter fans are unserved. We will serve them and we will soon come up with a big surprise for them at the Werchter Park site. Will announce the headliner and part of the bill soon.”

See the full line-up for Rock Werchter 2022 below.

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