Music Festival Destinations: The Netherlands.

The Netherlands, also known as Holland, has a surprising number of notable music festivals with over 40 respected events to choose from. Over 1,100 festivals of all types take place each year in the Netherlands with a sizeable festival industry considering the country has a population of just over 17m. 

Perhaps one of the benefits of getting to the Netherlands to attend one of its many festivals is the country’s location between Germany and Belgium making it easy to access from just about anywhere in Europe. Visitors will find friendly Dutch hosts who are generally fluent in multiple languages with almost all speaking English. The bulk of festivals centre around Dutch culture, religious events and flower festivals (related to the country's famous tulip production). As with most European continental countries EDM is the genre of choice for the bulk of Dutch music festivals.    

The Big Ones.
There are numerous significantly sized music festivals in the Netherlands scheduled for 2021 attracting in excess of 100,000 visitors, here is the pick of the best. 

Mysteryland
Claimed to be the oldest and longest running Electronic Dance (EDM) festival in the Netherlands it runs over 3 days based in Haarlemmermeer, a northern province of the Netherlands. The popular festival usually attracts over 100,000 visitors and this year is scheduled for 27th and 29th August.

Amsterdam Dance Event 
By far the largest festival taking place in the Netherlands each year it spans 5 days and includes a variety of acts and conferences centred around the Electronic Dance scene. The festival regularly features over 1,000 events and 2,500 artists in 200 clubs and venues culminating in the Amsterdam Music Festival that is part of the overall event. The festival attracts over 400,000 visitors and is scheduled to take place between 13th and 17th October this year.

Defqon.1 Netherlands 
Part of the Defqon.1 brand with same named festivals in Chile and Australia. The festival is known for its hardcore techno, hard house and hard trance genres. The festival attracts about 200,000 visitors over the 3 days and takes place in Biddinghuizen, the same location used by the Lowlands Festival. The event this year is scheduled for 26th – 28th June. 

Awakenings Festival 
With a focus on Techno only this global brand also has editions in London, New York, Manchester and Antwerp. The festival takes place near Spaarnwoude, a northern province in the Netherlands it now attracts over 400,000 visitors each year. It is scheduled for 11th – 12th September this year.  

The Other Large Ones.
There are many music festivals that fall into the second tier in terms of size by number of visitors (over 25,000) and here are the pick of the events worth exploring in 2021: 

Lowlands Festival 
About 68km east of Amsterdam in Spijk en Bremerberg, Biddinghuizen the long running festival attracts over 55,000 visitors and features mixed genres of Rock, Pop, Dance and Hip hop. This year's festival is scheduled for 20th – 22nd August. 

A State of Trance Utrecht 
Part of the global brand spearheaded by Armin van Burren and usually referred to as ASOT the festival features Trance, Progressive trance, Uplifting trance, Vocal trance and Progressive house. Whilst the festival attracts just 35,000 visitors to the Utrecht event the ASOT brand successfully tours the world with the same format. The event in Utrecht is scheduled for 3rd – 4th September this year. 

Numerous music festivals in the Netherlands have been postponed until 2022 but there is still a wide choice for festival fans choosing to look at the Netherlands. As with most European countries on the continent the format always leans towards EDM and some of the largest festivals in Europe take place in this small country. Festivalgoers intending to travel in 2021 should check potential travel restrictions and likely infection prevention protocols in place including rapid COVID-19 tests and the possibility of mandatory vaccine passports. 

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