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Mainstage of Pinkpop 2010. Photo by Gianni Taranto. .

Top 10 Fun Facts about Pinkpop Festival

The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend. If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in 1970, at Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in the city of Geleen, Pinkpop is the oldest and longest running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world.

Nowadays, Pinkpop is a three-day festival, from Saturday through Monday when on Pentecost weekend, or Friday through Sunday otherwise, with a 60,000 people per day capacity, and with performances on 4 separate stages. From 2006 through 2011, Pinkpop sold out six years in a row.

1. The first Pinkpop Festival took place in 1970

Pinkpop Logo. Photo by Hoebele. .

Founded by Jan Smeets and today located in the small town of Landgraaf (Netherlands), next to the German border, Pinkpop festival first took place in 1970.  Tickets for the first Pinkpop edition cost 2.50 guilders which is equivalent to just over one dollar.

Prices have now increased to about 鈧�230 (approx. US$255) for a three-day pass to the festival, which includes a tent for you to stay overnight. Jan Smeets has recently retired from the position of CEO of Pinkpop in 2020, at the age of 75.

2. Pinkpop was inspired by a festival called Pinknick

Inspired by the Monterey festival from 1967, there was a precursor to Pinkpop that was held on Pentecost Monday in 1969, a festival called 鈥淧inknick鈥� where people were supposed to bring their own food and a number of hip local bands were persuaded to come and play unpaid.

Almost 10,000 visitors were attracted. Continuing with that tradition, Pinkpop had been always held on the Pentecost weekend (Pinksteren in Dutch, hence the name) until 2008.

3. The festival has been graced by many big names

The festival has had many big names such as Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Coldplay and Justin Bieber in the music industry. They perform across many genres including hip-hop, electronic, heavy metal, garage rock, alternative rock and indie rock.

More recently in 2019, the 50th anniversary of Pinkpop and the last time it was open to the public, the main stage had Jamiroquai, Mumford & Sons, Lenny Kravitz and Fleetwood Mac perform between the 8th to the 10th of June.

4. Pinkpop was named after pentecost

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 combines the English word pink and the Dutch word pop, which means doll, thus forming the origin for the logo, a doll in a pink dress.

In 2008, the festival strayed from Pentecost weekend for the first time due to difficulties in scheduling artists and audiences. The festival attracted such a huge audience that the 2008 edition has been recorded to be the largest turnout to date.

5. Pinkpop has a spinoff festival

Pinkpop Logo. Photo by Hoebele. .

In 2007, Pinkpop launched a spinoff called Pinkpop Classic that targeted an older rock audience. Bands and artists that had performed at Pinkpop in the past such as Iggy Pop were brought back to relive nostalgia. There were a few editions of this spinoff until it was ultimately canceled in 2014.

6. In 2016, a 鈥淏ad Weather Fund鈥� was created thanks to Pinkpop

Because of a nightmare situation in 2016, when a huge downpour of rain turned Pinkpop鈥檚 grounds into a mucky mess, the retired Dutch politician Jet Bussemaker created a 鈥淏ad Weather Fund鈥�. The mire, however, did not stop the show from going on. With this fund, festivals that were potentially facing financial loss due to bad weather conditions would be eligible for a subsidy.

To keep this scheme sustainable, festivals that have benefited from it would return the money once they are profitable again so that the funds could be used for other festivals facing the same problems.

7. A celestial event took place during one of the performances

During the Foo Fighters鈥� performance in 2018, a meteor disintegrated behind the main stage, leaving the audience in awe as it lit up the sky. They were right in the middle of Monkey Wrench when it happened and it was luckily caught on video. Observed from other countries such as Germany and France too, it is reported that the disintegration took place near Li猫ge, Belgium at 11:11 p.m.

8. The festival is environment friendly

Pinkpop Stage in 2017. Photo by Hoebele. Wikimedia Commons.

Pinkpop met the criteria for the Green and Clean award from Yourope in 2008, as it is increasingly important to care about our environment. The festival has encouraged people to cycle to Megaland, Landgraaf and has set up a free parking area for bicycles. The festival has also met criteria for sustainable management, transport and energy use.

9. The festival has had sponsors over the years

Pinkpop has been sponsored by various well-known brands since 1973, first of which was jeans brand Lois. Important sponsors of the last years have been, among others, Brand Bier, Coca-Cola and BRIGHTLANDS.

The official festival newspaper is made by their media partner, music magazine OOR. The festival has also had agreements with important charity organisations for years, including Oxfam Novib and Amnesty International.

10. There’s a documentary about the founder of Pinkpop

Pinkpop stage. Photo by Hoebele. .

In 2013, the Dutch NPO series 3Doc broadcasted the documentary Mr. Pinkpop on Dutch television. In this documentary about Jan Smeets, the founder of Pinkpop, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger looks back at Pinkpop鈥檚 legendary edition of 1979. Mick Jagger backed out of a guest performance during the concert of reggae singer Peter Tosh last minute. Pinkpop chief Jan Smeets cried his heart out that day and his frustration never disappeared, as proves the film.

Mr. Pinkpop, a film by Jaap van Eyck, shows the image of a man who has a boundless passion and has been inextricably bound up with the oldest, still existing pop festival in the world.