Dour’s Sellout Hat-Trick

Dour Festival in Belgium sold out for the third year running, although this year’s site expansion meant the 34,000 per day crowd had more space to relax and enjoy the music.

"We’ve expanded the festival site and the camp site and the combined area is 25 percent bigger this year, but we didn’t increase the capacity," Dour press officer Sophie Chevalier explained after this year’s 20th anniversary edition.

The site was reconfigured two years ago as the average annual crowd rapidly passed the 130,000 mark, partly a result of attracting more visitors from neighbouring countries.

The increased number of foreign visitors also prompted discussions in the marketing department, which changed the festival banner from "The Belgian Alternative Music Event" to "The European Alternative Music Event."

The acts entertaining the July 17-20 crowd across seven stages at Dour, which is midway between Brussels and the northern French town of Lille, included Gogol Bordello, The Enemy, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Ice Cube, Goldfrapp, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Boys Noize, Alpha Blondy, Meat Puppets, The New Pornographers and The Raveonettes.