Festival organisers behind the Retropop Festival say they are happy with the freedom that the new name grants them, and the headliner for the newly named Hello Festival will be Lenny Kravitz.
Translation by Traci White
Johan Lubbers, one of the festival’s organisers, told Dagblad van het Noordenthat changing the name frees them up to book acts from any era: the name “Retropop” limited the eras they could draw from.
The name change also signifies larger ambitions for the festival, which would like to eventually compete alongside the likes of the biggest Dutch festivals like Pinkpop and Lowlands. The 2018 edition of the festival attracted 21,000 visitors.
‘70s and ‘80s
The festival, which is held in June each year in Emmen and features musical acts from the 1970s and 1980s, began in the early 2000s. It has already gone through at least one identity change: it used to be two separate festivals, one focused on ‘80s music and one on ‘70s music. In 2010, it became one festival – Retropop – and was held at De Grote Rietplaats in Drenthe.
Over the years, the festival has featured acts from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Belgium and the Netherlands, including Golden Earring, Simple Minds, UB40, Tom Jones and The Pretenders. The more recent editions of the festival have featured the throwback acts on a mainstage, a stage for Dutch acts and a “future stage” with performances by more contemporary bands.
Tickets to the festival typically cost between 61.50 per day and 108 euros for the whole weekend. Festival goers can also pay 37.50 euros to camp on site, and people with campers pay an extra 20 euros.
Photo source: Dirk van Esbroeck/Wikipedia