Pinkpop Festival, or Pinkpop for short, is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (Pinksteren in Dutch, hence the name). In 1970, the first festival took place in Geleen, now part of municipality Sittard-Geleen and was held on the Monday following that weekend.
Today, Pinkpop is a 3 day festival, from Saturday to Monday, and visited by approximately 60,000 people a day with performances on 3 separate stages. In 35 years, 1.5 million people have attended Pinkpop. More than 500 musical acts have played at the festival.
In 1994 (the 25th edition), it was decided to sell only 60,000 tickets, to prevent overcrowding due to the popularity of the festival. In 1995, it was made into a 2-day festival. Two years later, in 1997, this was further expanded to three days.
2007 saw a spin-off, later in the year, on 11 August, called Pinkpop Classic, for an older rock audience, with bands that previously performed there in past decades. This spin-off was held again in following years, with exception of 2011, in which the organisation was not able to sign enough interesting older bands.
In 2008, Pinkpop was for the first time in its history not held on Pentecost weekend, which fell too early that year for the convenience of fans and performers alike. This was decided following the 2005 edition, in which the Pentecost weekend also fell early and therefore Pinkpop could not convince many great performers to come play at the festival. Sales were disappointing in 2005, so by shifting the 2008 festival, the organisation hoped to solve these problems. Pinkpop 2008 turned out to have had the largest audience of concert attendees to date. The dates for the 2010 and 2013 edition were, for similar reasons, shifted as well.
Name and logo
The name consists of two parts. 'Pink' comes from the Dutch word for Pentecost ('Pinksteren') and 'pop' comes from pop music (or 'popular music'). But a later creative interpretation for the name, is a combination of the English word pink and the Dutch word 'pop', which means doll, which is the origin for the logo, a doll in a pink dress.
The precursor to Pinkpop, which was held in 1969, was called Pinknick because people were supposed to bring their own food. But no evidence to support the claim have ever surfaced. The claim arose only after Oregon Country Fair claimed to be the oldest annual festival in the world.
Pinkpop 2007
Pinkpop 2007 was held on May 26, 27 and 28 2007. It was the 20th time the event was held at the Megaland Park. On February 28, most of the line-up was revealed. Pearl Jam was announced to make their 3rd appearance on the Pinkpop stage, but they cancelled, for two of their members would become fathers in the Pentecost weekend.
- A Krezip replaced Amy Winehouse, because she had to cancel due to illness. Krezip started their gig playing Amy Winehouse's "Rehab".
Pinkpop 2008
Pinkpop 2008 was held in the Landgraaf Megaland Park on 30 May, 31 May and 1 June 2008. On 10 and 17 December there were 3 bands officially announced to headline on each of the three festival days. These headlining bands are the internationally renowned Foo Fighters, Metallica, and the recently reunited Rage Against the Machine. Pinkpop 2008 had the largest audience of concert attendees to date, with an average of just over 60,000 people arriving each of the three days, prompting the festival organizers to announce that 180,000 people had visited the festival. Because the 42,500 available three-day passes sold out completely, the actual number of unique visitors is 94,000.
- B Animal Alpha replaced Novastar, because they experienced delays in recording their new album.
- C Eagles of Death Metal replaced Chris Cornell, because he had obligations in the studio.
Pinkpop 2009
On 4 March 2009, the Pinkpop Board gave a press conference in Paradiso in Amsterdam, to answer questions from the press and announce which artists will be performing on Pinkpop 2009 will be announced.
- D Krezip replaced Depeche Mode, because lead singer Dave Gahan had to undergo a procedure after a tumor was spotted in his bladder two weeks before Pinkpop. Placebo replaced Depeche Mode as headliner.
Pinkpop 2010
- E Ryan Shaw replaced Wolfmother, because lead singer Andrew Stockdale was too sick to go on tour. Wolfmother was first planned on Sunday, but Triggerfinger covered their spot, so Ryan Shaw could play on Saturday.
Pinkpop 2011
Pinkpop 2011 was held on 11, 12 and 13 June, headlined by Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters on Saturday, Sunday and Monday respectively.
Converse-stage and Mainstage (2011)
Entrance Mainstage (2011)
Pinkpop 2012
Pinkpop 2012 was held on 26, 27, 28 of May.
- F At first Kasabian would perform as well, but they had to cancel due to private matters. Kyuss Lives! replaced Kasabian's spot, Moss covered Kyuss Lives!'s spot.
Pinkpop 2013
Pinkpop 2013 was held on June 14, 15 and 16; the third time that it was not held in the weekend of Pentecost.
References
External links
- Official site (English)
- Myspace page for Pinkpop - myspace site (Dutch)
- 3Voor12 Articles, Audio, Video and more about Pinkpop 2007
Coordinates: 50°52′50″N 6°1′23″E / 50.88056°N 6.02306°E / 50.88056; 6.02306
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