HISTORY
Pinkpop Festival, or Pinkpop for short, is an annual rock festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the oldest annual festival in the world[verification needed]. It is held annually on the Pentecost weekend (Pinksteren in Dutch, hence the name). In 1970, the first festival took place in Geleen, now part of municipality Sittard-Geleen and was held on the Monday following that weekend.
Today, Pinkpop is a 3 day festival, from Saturday to Monday, and visited by approximately 60,000 people a day with performances on 3 separate stages. In 35 years, 1.5 million people have attended Pinkpop. More than 500 musical acts have played at the festival.
In 1994 (the 25th edition), it was decided to sell only 60,000 tickets, to prevent overcrowding due to the popularity of the festival. In 1995, it was made into a 2-day festival. Two years later, in 1997, this was further expanded to three days.
2007 saw a spin-off, later in the year, on 11 August, called Pinkpop Classic, for an older rock audience, with bands that previously performed there in past decades.
In 2008 Pinkpop was for the first time in its history, not held on Pentecost weekend which fell too early that year for the convenience of fans and performers alike.
The name is half Dutch, half English, in two possible combinations. Originally, '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, is a combination of the English word pink and the Dutch word 'pop', which means doll, which is the origin for the logo, a doll in a pink dress.
The precursor to Pinkpop, which was held in 1969, was called Pinknick because people were supposed to bring their own food. But no evidence to support the claim have ever surfaced. The claim arose only after Oregon Country Fair claimed to be the oldest annual festival in the world.
Pinkpop Festival - Line Up 2008
Metallica, Incubus, Flogging Molly, Alter Bridge, Animal Alpha, Sat2D, From first to last, Porcupine Tree, Jonathan Davis, Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs,Editors, KT Tunstall, Moke, The Verve, Stereophonics, Eagles of Death Metal, Bad Religion, Air Traffic, Groove Armada, Justice, Amy MacDonald, Voicst, Blood Red Shoes, Rage Against The Machine, Queens of the Stone Age, Alanis Morissette, Racoon, Gavin DeGraw, Fiction Plane, Counting Crows, Serj Tankian,
The Hives, Cavalera Conspiracy, The Wombats, Róisín Murphy, Saybia, Pete Murray, Kate Nash, Patrick Watson
Pinkpop Festival - Line Up 2009
Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band, The Killers, Chris Cornell, Elbow, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Kings of the Day, Dr. Lektroluv, Just Jack, Noisettes, Placebo, Krezip, Madness, Volbeat, Milow, Keane, James Morrison, Maria Mena, Rowwen Hèze, De Staat, Pendulum, White Lies, The Rifles, Kyteman's Hiphop Orchestra, You Me At Six, Snow Patrol, Anouk, Franz Ferdinand, Amy Macdonald, Novastar, The Gaslight Anthem, The Kooks, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Billy Talent, Mando Diao, Shinedown, The Ting Tings, Katy Perry, The Script, Hollywood Undead, The All-American Rejects
Pinkpop Festival - Line Up 2010
Rammstein, Motorhead, Kasabian, Epica, Paolo Nutini, The Temper Trap, The Opposites, Gossip, The Black Box Revelation, Sungrazer, Green Day, Editors, Mando Diao, C-Mon & Kypski, Moke and Metropole Orkest, John Mayer, Biffy Clyro, Triggerfinger, Destine, 2 Many DJs, Caro Emerald, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, Everything Everything, The Prodigy, The Pixies, Wolfmother, Skunk Anansie, Danko Jones, The Maccabees, Pink, Mika, Slash, Kate Nash, Gogol Bordello, Florence and The Machine, Yeasayer, General Fiasco, Dewolff
Pinkpop Festival - Line Up 2011
COLDPLAY, Elbow, Lifehouse, De Staat. Alter Bridge, Simple Plan, Manic Street Preachers. Selah Sue, Ash, Madi, KINGS OF LEON, White Lies, Wolfmother, Tim Knol, Avenged Sevenfold, Justin Nozuka, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Graffiti6, Laura Jansen, FOO FIGHTERS, Kaiser Chiefs, Volbeat, Go Back To The Zoo, Two Door Cinema Club, Scouting For Girls, Thirty Seconds To Mars, The Script, The Gaslight Anthem Beatsteaks, Plain White T’s, Deadmau5, Band Of Horses, All Time Low, Dazzled Kid