Music festival Pinkpop returns with thousands of visitors after pandemic

Pinkpop returns on Friday after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic. For three days, thousands of visitors will descend on Landgraaf, Limburg to enjoy bands such as Metallica, Chef' Special and Måneskin. "We are excited," says festival manager Niek Murray.

"Now it's really going to happen; what we've been working for all year." The two years without Pinkpop have really caused confusion when it came to make final preparations, says the festival manager. "For the crew, suppliers and everyone. It was a bit of a mystery. 'How did we do that again?'" But after two days of building everything up, that feeling had already disappeared, says Murray.

The 51st edition of Pinkpop will be the first with Murray as festival manager. He took over from "Mr. Pinkpop" Jan Smeets, the founder, who stopped as festival director in 2020 due to his health.

The Pinkpop organization also had to deal with all kinds of shortages this year, which are affecting the entire sector. "You see it everywhere. Supplier problems, personnel problems. We are also suffering from this," says Murray. Organizing this edition was therefore more "challenging" than usual, but according to the festival manager everything was "arranged on paper."

This week there was another challenge for the festival organization. It promises to be particularly warm in the south of the country on Friday and Saturday. The temperature in Landgraaf can rise to 32 degrees.

Due to the expected heat, there will be extra water points on the festival site, visitors will be informed about the heat, and the first aid team will be instructed to pay extra attention to visitors. Water can also be distributed at points where crowds are expected.