Pinkpop is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, the Netherlands. It is one of the biggest contemporary music events in Europe, with an excellent artist lineup, attracting thousands of music fans every year.
The festival usually takes place on the Pentecost weekend; however, if the religious date falls on an early date in May, the event is postponed until a later date in June to accommodate the musicians as well as visitors. This year, the event will be held from Friday till Sunday, 17-19 June, 2022.
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What is it all about?
Oh, nothing. Just one of the oldest and longest running annual pop and rock festivals in the world, that’s all.
It all started in 1970, at Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in the city of Geleen, the Netherlands, where the first Pinkpop was held. The event was so popular that it was repeated the next year – and it has been coming back to Europe ever since. Except for 2020 and 2021 due to epidemiologic reasons, of course.
The Old Guard
In 2007, there was a special edition under the name “Pinkpop Classic,” which was aimed at the older generation of fans and featured bands that had performed at the festivals some 20-30 years before.
While the name might give off an early Britney Spears or Katy Perry vibe, this is a unique get-together for alternative music fans with some pop elements. It is a multi-genre event, celebrating contemporary music in its multitude of forms and expressions.
Over the course of its almost half-century history, over 500 artists have performed here, including such big shots as The Rolling Stones, Björk, Metallica, Nazareth, U2, John Mayer, Editors, Rob Zombie, Paramore, and many others.
Name
Why is the name of the festival not so rock, though?
The name Pinkpop is half Dutch and half English. “Pink” actually comes from the Dutch word for Pentecost – Pinksteren, and “pop” simply refers to popular music. This name also gave the festival its logo, a vintage doll in a pink dress: in this sense, it is vice versa, the “pink” part comes from the English name for a color, and “pop” is the Dutch word for a doll.
Pinkpop 2022
Unable to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019, the event returns in 2022 with an excellent lineup of music artists to make up for it: expect to see Metallica, Pearl Jam, twenty one pilots, Imagine Dragons, Nightwish, Måneskin, and many other musicians from Europe and across the world.
Over three days, more than 50 prominent musicians will perform on four stages, open-air and covered, at the festival venue in Landgraaf, the Netherlands. Aside from the main area, there are several smaller, cozier sites, like the Kalm Aan Laan (Take-It-Easy Lane), which serves a variety of snacks and drinks and lets the visitors relax away from the lively main stages.
To provide more comprehensive guidance (mind that this event usually attracts about 60,000 people per day!), the festival’s team released an official app that lets you set a personal timetable, receive reminders about bookmarked performances, navigate with maps, and find out more about the available foods and drinks. Another cool feature of the app is that you can listen to some music from the program of each stage, so you can discover a new act to follow.
Pinkpop is held in the city of Landgraaf in southeastern Limburg, 2-3 hours by train from Amsterdam. To get around the Netherlands and look for things to do around Landgraaf before or after the festival, visit GetExperience.com.
