Keeping It Lowlands: Annual Dutch Focus 2025

‘Tickets Are Selling Faster Than Ever’ The Netherlands Remain A Top Touring Destination In Europe

The Netherlands may be the country in Europe with the largest number of festivals in relation to its size. It’s certainly home to one of Europe’s oldest, Pinkpop, which celebrated its 54th edition this year, June 20-22, with a lineup led by Justin Timberlake, Muse, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. It was the first
edition with Mojo Concerts’ Tirsa Creusen at the helm – alongside Ide Koffeman, who also directs Down The Rabbit Hole.

“I loved every second of it,” Creusen says. “We must not forget that real stories don’t happen behind a screen: they’re born in the moment. Sharing an experience with friends, strangers or even your heroes is what truly matters. Because nothing beats that feeling of ‘I was there.’”

Telling Stories, Talking Shop & Treading The Boards: ESNS Turns 40

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) turns 40 years old. What began as a battle of Dutch and Belgian bands (Noorderslag means “battle of the north”) is today one of
Europe’s most important events to showcase the hottest talent from all over the continent – and to discuss the most pressing concerns of the music industry.

The list of artists whose career got kickstarted or boosted by a ESNS performance; a booking through the ESNS Exchange program; or a win at the Music Moves Europe Awards (MMEA) (formerly EBBAs) includes Franz Ferdinand, Dua Lipa, Stromae, Christine and the Queens, Fontaines D.C., Sigrid, Altin Gün, Stormzy, The
xx, and many, many more.

Forty years in, ESNS is still all about making sure “artists can actually get a career out of it,” as managing director Anna van Nunen puts it.

‘It Feels Like 2026 Is Going To Be Another Strong Year’: Q’s With Kim Bloem, Head Promoter, MD, Mojo Concerts

For our annual Dutch Focus, Pollstar reached out to Kim Bloem, head promoter and managing director at the country’s biggest promoter Mojo Concerts/Live Nation.

Bloem talked about the state of business at Mojo at year’s end, current trends, challenges, opportunities, and shared her outlook for 2026.

‘There’s A Lot Of Business Regionally If Artists Are Up For It’: Q’s With Age Versluis, Head Of Touring, Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire is one of the Netherland’s busiest promoters. A FKP Scorpio subsidiary, the company is looking back at a year full of international and domestic success stories, and 2026 is looking to bring more of the same.

Pollstar reached out to Age Versluis, head of touring at Friendly Fire, to find out what performs well, and what doesn’t; the economic reality for smaller events and artists; as well as the Netherland’s unique club structure, where the government funds the creative arts through funding clubs up to a certain size.

‘We Looked At Everything & Came Up With A Better Solution’: Q’s With Dutch Barrier Services’ Stanley Jilesen & Erwin Sprengers

For this year’s Dutch Focus, Pollstar reached out to Stanley Jilesen and Erwin Sprengers, who, along with founder Cees Muurling, manage Dutch Barrier Services, the business that’s been taking the barrier world by storm since its foundation during the pandemic.

Both men have a combined 50-year experience working with barriers, and their latest endeavor started as a hobby, out of boredom, during the COVID lockdowns. The team was simply fooling around with different designs, thinking that maybe they could supply smaller events with it at some point. Little did they know that their new designs would take the global live events industry by storm.

Today, there’s hardly a festival in Europe not supplied by Dutch Barrier, same goes for many of the major stadium and arena tours.

‘Where People Come Together & Creativity Comes To Life’: Q’s With Arnaud Hordijk, Head Of Entertainment & Sports, Rotterdam Ahoy

Rotterdam Ahoy has been the home for international and Dutch artists, sports professionals, politicians, celebrities, as well as the people of Rotterdam for more than 50 years.

If there’s a trend to be made out in the European touring circuit, the building’s head of entertainment and sports, Arnaud Hordijk, is the man to ask about it. Which is exactly what Pollstar did for its annual Dutch Focus 2025.

‘We must not forget that real stories don’t happen behind a screen’: Q’s With Tirsa Creusen, Festival Director, Pinkpop

Pinkpop is one of the Netherland’s most famous events and oldest annual pop and rock festivals in the world. It celebrated its 54th edition June 20-22, 2025, with a lineup led by Justin Timberlake, Muse, Olivia Rodrigo, and more.

It was the first edition with Mojo Concerts’ Tirsa Creusen at the helm – alongside Ide Koffeman, who also directs Down The Rabbit Hole – and we reached out to her for this year’s Dutch Focus, to talk about the country’s festival business.

‘This Business Always Offers Opportunities’: Q’s With Wouter de Wilde, Greenhouse Talent:

Wouter de Wilde is managing director and head promoter at Greenhouse Talent, the largest independent concert promoter in the Benelux countries. We sent him some questions for this year’s Dutch Focus, to get a sense of the health of the market, as well as trends, challenges and opportunities that shape a promoter’s business in 2025/2026.

‘Unmatched Value To Artists, Promoters, Sponsors & Fans’: Q’s With Ziggo Dome’s Birgitte de Winter & Jacobine Talsma

Ziggo Dome is the Netherland’s main concert arena. Located in the capital of Amsterdam, it usually gets a piece of every major arena tour out there. For this year’s Dutch Focus, Pollstar spoke with the building’s head of events, Jacobine Talsma, and commercial director Birgitte de Winter.

They talked about the calendar of events at Ziggo Dome, which shows an event split between international and domestic shows, the most important questions to answers as a venue operator in 2025/2026, and a couple of exciting new spaces that opened inside the arena.