Pinkpop

What it is

The festival takes place at Megaland, a site of about 27 hectares in Landgraaf, a town in Dutch Limburg. It runs for three days, with room for 60,000 people each day, and music is played on four separate stages. Since 1996 it has been a three-day event. Guinness World Records names it the world's longest unbroken yearly pop festival. Reading, which began in 1961, is older, but a local council ban cost it the 1984 and 1985 editions, so Pinkpop holds the record for the longest consecutive run.

How it began

The first Pinkpop was held in 1970 at the Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in Geleen, where more than 10,000 people watched a makeshift stage raised among the stands. Jan Smeets, then 23 years old, was one of the organisers. The music ran from one until six in the afternoon on 18 May, and there were still complaints about the noise. A year earlier a free gathering called Pinknick had drawn almost 10,000 people to hear local bands play for nothing, with a free pig roast and free apples on offer. Its model was the Monterey festival of 1967.

The name and the doll

Two words sit behind the name. Pink is short for Pinksteren, the Dutch term for Pentecost, and pop stands for pop music. A later and more playful reading takes pink as the English colour word and pop as the Dutch word for a doll, and that is where the logo comes from: a doll in a pink dress. The 1969 forerunner had a different name, Pinknick, chosen because visitors were expected to bring their own food. In 2007 the organisers added a spin-off, Pinkpop Classic, held on 11 August for an older rock audience and featuring bands from past decades. It returned in later years, but not in 2011, when too few acts could be booked.

When it falls

Pentecost, Pinksteren in Dutch, fixes the date in most years. Should the holiday land early in May, the organisers push the festival into June. That is what happened in 2008, the first year Pinkpop did not sit on the Pentecost weekend; it moved to late May and drew 94,000 different visitors, the largest figure up to then. Similar moves followed in 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2016. In 2005 the early date left touring bands elsewhere, only 22,000 tickets went, and the founder came close to ending the festival. The 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today and change

Rock and pop top the bill most years, with hip-hop, electronic music, heavy metal and indie bands also on the programme. The 50th anniversary was marked in 2019, and the festival has carried on through the 2020s with Pearl Jam, Metallica and P!nk among recent headliners. A ceiling of 60,000 tickets a day was brought in during 1994 to stop overcrowding, and the event sold out six years running between 2006 and 2011. About 700 acts have played across more than 40 editions, and total visits have passed two million.

How Pinkpop is kept

A ticket buys entry to a three-day weekend, usually Friday to Sunday. People arrive with tents and settle at the Megaland site; camping is part of the event. Music plays on four stages, and the biggest names close each evening on the main stage. Dutch bands appear alongside acts from abroad. Day tickets and weekend passes are both sold, and in strong years the passes run out. Between performances visitors eat, drink and walk between stages. The weekend ends on Sunday night, and the Monday after is often free because of Pentecost.

When and where

It is normally kept on the Pentecost weekend, known in Dutch as Pinksteren, so the date shifts each year with that Christian holiday. If Pentecost comes very early in May, the organisers postpone the festival to a later date in June. This has happened several times since 2008.

Pinkpop is a Dutch festival, staged since 1988 at Megaland in Landgraaf, in the province of Limburg. Its first editions were held at the Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in Geleen. The Megaland ground lies on what was once the Staatsmijn Wilhelmina coal mine, where building work started in 1982.

What Pinkpop means

Pinkpop carries a sense of continuity in Dutch music life. Guinness World Records recognises its unbroken yearly run, a point of pride for the festival and its audience. The name ties it to Pinksteren, the holiday that has shaped its dates from the start. The 1969 forerunner drew grandparents and grandchildren to the same field, and families went home with bags of free apples. For regular visitors the weekend has become a yearly meeting point, less a single concert than a fixed point in the calendar.

Days Pinkpop is marked

Questions people ask about Pinkpop

See also

St. Martin's DayA November feast of lantern walks, bonfires, roast goose and new wineKing's DayA Dutch national holiday celebrating the monarch's birthday with street markets and orange attire.KetikotiAn annual Emancipation Day marking the end of slavery in Suriname and the NetherlandsSizdah BedarAn open-air picnic holiday concluding the Iranian New Year celebrations

Good reading and sources

• Pinkpop Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.