Lowlands

Lowlands is a rock, indie and pop festival that began from 27 to 29 August 1993 in Biddinghuizen, on the Flevoland polder, beside the park that was then Flevohof and is now Walibi Holland. The long name is A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise. Mojo Concerts and Loc7000 built it. Willem Venema brought the idea of a three-day weekend with in-house catering and fixed fees. Joost Callier found the ground. The title nods to A Flight to Lowlands Paradise, the 24 and 25 November 1967 gathering in the Margriethal of Utrecht’s Jaarbeurs. NRC and Festileaks put about 7,000 people in 1993, against the 10,000 Mojo wanted. A pass cost 75 guilders and was bought at the gate. There were two tents: a small red round one and a large blue square one. Rage Against The Machine, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop and Urban Dance Squad headlined. A month earlier the weekend had nearly been cancelled. Leon Ramakers, of Mojo, said they would go on.

The polder gives no valley and no wood. It gives an open flat, wind and tents that take August rain. In 1993 Friday was wet and stayed near fifteen degrees. Buses ran from Harderwijk or Elburg. Tents went up to the left of the gate. A camp shop sat behind. In 1994 the tents took NATO names: Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Peter te Bos, singer of Claw Boys Claw, drew the graphic style and the mascot Rapid Razor Bob, which lasted more than twenty years. Attendance rose to 12,500. In 1995 Delta, for theatre, and Echo, for comedy, were added. The festival sold out for the first time, at 20,000. In 1996 31,000 came and Sunday brought an orange-peel fight. In 1997 40,000 came. The site started to feel tight.

In 1998 Mojo bridged the trunk road and put the campsite on the far side. That bridge was soon called the bridge of death: it is hard to cross with a pack, a coolbox and a tent. Dutch papers filed it as part of the character. Delta became the Dommelsch tent. Attendance hit 45,000. In 1999 India opened and an outdoor cinema ran after eleven. About 58,000 people. In 2000, after Roskilde, the festival opened with a minute of silence and banned crowdsurfing. In 2002, now in euros, capacity hit 60,000 and the ground was judged too full. Eric van Eerdenburg, director from 2001, cut back in 2003: 48,000 people, biodegradable plastic, a silent disco. In 2004 a shout of names started in the queue, after a boy called Theo Vlaar got lost on a toilet run. In 2005 the weekend moved to the third weekend of August, when more international bands cross Europe.

Lowlands reads on the ground as a three-night town. There is cinema, theatre, cabaret, literature, science and a barber. The large tents cover a football pitch. Heineken has named the main stage since 2015. ArmadiLLow stays open twenty-four hours. Camping opens Thursday and closes Monday. The official address is Bijsselseweg 31, Biddinghuizen. The municipality is Dronten. No day tickets are sold. A wristband holds the whole weekend. The visitor is a Lowlander. The Free State of LLow is the camp’s in-house name. Mojo Concerts, part of Live Nation, still signs the production. Van Eerdenburg still appears as director in later reports. The festival is measured by tents, mud and the bridge, not by a single headliner.

In 2020 the Dutch government banned large events until 1 September. IQ Magazine and the Lowlands site posted that the edition would not run. Stormzy, The Chemical Brothers, Foals and Liam Gallagher had been named and did not play. In July 2021 the cabinet extended the ban on multi-day festivals with camping. Omroep Flevoland and 3voor12 dated the cancellation. Tickets from 2020 and 2021 were refunded. The festival returned from 19 to 21 August 2022. From 15 to 17 August 2025, 65,000 passes sold in twenty minutes, at 349 euros. Job Jobse, Raye, Chappell Roan, Fontaines D.C. and Jamie xx headlined. Payment moved to card. A small beer cost 3.90 euros.

From 21 to 23 August 2026 the festival already took place. De Drontenaar, on 24 August, put about 60,500 visitors. A pass cost 365 euros. It did not sell out, for the first time in ten years. NU.nl wrote that on the Friday of the weekend. There were more than 250 acts and twelve stages. Camping opened at 9:00 on 20 August and closed at noon on 24 August. Parking was bought separately on Ticketmaster, at 45.50 euros in advance. The site lowlands.nl is kept. Rock, indie and pop measured the ear. Biddinghuizen pins the polder. Flevoland pins the map. Alpha and Bravo pin the roof when August rains.