Jan’s Back In The Pink

Having suffered a 2005 festival that he described as a “financial disaster,” Jan Smeets is confident that this year’s Pinkpop will be back on track.

Last year, the event only pulled about 20,000 per day – the second-lowest attendance in the festival’s 35-year history. Smeets can reasonably hope to double that number at Landgraaf Megaland.

“My festival is always at Whitsun and that’s always seven weeks after Easter,” he explained.

“The problem is Easter was very early last year and that meant the festival came very early and sat in the calendar alone. This year, Easter is much later and I will be on the same June 3-5 weekend as Marek Lieberberg’s Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park.

“Last year, I couldn’t get the top-line rock acts and I lost the crowd.”

He’s already announced Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, Tool, Anouk, and Racoon. The rest of the bill was to be revealed at a press conference at Amsterdam Paradiso March 9th. Tickets go on sale a couple days later.

Last month, Smeets was in The Paradiso to receive a lifetime achievement award – the fourth the 61-year-old former Dutch MP has received – from Kink FM radio.

–John Gammon