The Pukkelpop music festival was founded in 1985 by youth organization Humanistic Youth of Leopoldsburg. It was a one-day event that took place on July 21, Belgian National Day that commemorates the ascension of Leopold I to the throne. The festival was headlined by English poet, songwriter and electronic musician Anne Clark. It attracted about 3,000 attendees.
The first festival was deemed a success, so it became an annual occurrence. After moving several times, it found its current home in the village of Kiewit near Hasselt in 1991. Pukkelpop is an outdoor event that takes place within a large enclosure of fields and woodland. It provides free camping facilities to festival-goers.
Pukkelpop is noted for embracing a wide variety of music genres and styles, including rock, pop, hip-hop, heavy metal, punk, electronic dance music, and others. According to the organizers, the festival is a contemporary and progressive music event that features the best international performers.
World-class musicians and bands who have performed at Pukkelpop over the years include The Stone Roses, Björk, Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Daft Punk, Pixies, Guns N’ Roses, Blink-182, Green Day, Metallica, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, The Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Sisters of Mercy, Ramones, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Mission, Eminem, PJ Harvey, Mumford & Sons, and others.
Pukkelpop is considered one of the best thought-out festivals in terms of organization (transport facilities, security, queue prevention, schedule, etc.). However, there have been some incidents. During the 2010 Pukklepop, two musicians died. One had a heart attack and the other committed suicide. The 2011 festival was affected by a thunderstorm on the opening day and had to be cut short.
Pukklepop has been held almost every year since its inception. The only edition to be canceled was the 1989 festival. That year, the two headliners, The Sugarcubes and The Pogues, canceled their appearances a few weeks before the event.
Photo: pukkelpop.be
