ENFNTSTERRIBLES

28 Dec 2022
Life & Culture
Music

Wrapping up 2022: 5 Best Belgian Festivals

As 2022 officially comes to an end, we’re using these last few days of the year to look back. After two years of COVID, 2022 was the year we were finally allowed to party again. For a lot of Belgian festivals, last summer marked their big comeback. We attended a different festival almost every weekend during the entire summer. So, we’re listing the five Belgian festivals that were the most memorable in 2022.

There are a lot of things that can make a festival memorable. Our biggest criteria, though, are the following: the setting, the crowd, the festival’s lineup, and overall vibes. With setting, we’re mainly talking about set design, lighting, the layout of the festival terrain, etc. Some of Belgium’s biggest and most expensive festivals still manage to have the most boring setting and stage designs. Yes, we’re looking at you, Rock Werchter.

The crowd is another important element of what makes a festival good, just like the lineup of artists and DJs performing. And no, we don’t mean that you need big names on your lineup to have a good festival. Some of the best festivals we attended this summer barely had any huge names on their lineup. But, arguably, the most important of all elements is the overall vibe or how it all comes together. You can have a great lineup but the wrong crowd, which would make the festival less memorable.

Bottega Veneta models at Horst

HORST Arts & Music Festival

Horst is one of those festivals we would almost like to keep off this list because we want to gatekeep it just a tiny bit longer. Located at the Asiat Park in Vilvoorde, the festival manages to blend art, architecture, and electronic music in the best way possible. The rough and industrial former military base adds to this feeling of mysteriousness that surrounds the festival. Horst has one of the artsiest and cool crowds out of all Belgian festivals.

Fun fact, Bottega Veneta’s Fall/Winter 2022 campaign was shot during the 2022 edition of Horst. I mean, when the hottest brand of the moment chooses a festival as the backdrop of its newest campaign, you know it is something truly unique.

Tickets for Horst Arts & Music Festival 2023 are on sale now.

Paradise City Festival

Paradise City Festival isn’t only one of the most fun festivals out there, but it’s also one of the greenest ones. This electronic dance festival shows that a festival can be great and environmentally conscious at the same time. The festival tries to keep its ecological footprint as small as possible by working with renewable energy, serving vegan food, and numerous partnerships with organizations such as River Cleanup and more.

As for the setting, the festival also pushes itself to the top. The festival terrain is located around the historic setting of Kasteel de Ribaucourt in Steenokkerzeel. In 2022, we witnessed Octa Octa closing the Forest stage, which was better than any words could ever describe. The lighting and stage—perfectly built between trees and with a mysteriously permanent cloud of smoke—definitely played a part in this experience.

In 2023, Paradise City Festival is happening from June 30th until July 2nd, with tickets already on sale right now.

Octa Octa at Paradise City

Pukkelpop

Belgium has a lot of huge festivals, but Pukkelpop is the only one that managed to make it into this list. Why, you ask? Because Pukkelpop is one of the few big festivals that consistently books good names and pushes upcoming talent. Pukkelpop is one of those festivals where the main stage is actually the least interesting because the smaller stages have the most interesting lineups you could ever ask for.

The crowd is a mix of youngsters, who are having their very first festival experience, 20-somethings, cool parents, and everything in between. With its nine stages, you’re never bored at Pukkelpop.

Pukkelpop 2023 is happening from August 17th until the 20th.

Skaters at Pukkelpop

CORE Festival

CORE Festival held its first edition in 2022. It’s a collaboration between two of the biggest Belgian festivals: Rock Werchter and Tomorrowland. As the little sister of these two giant festivals, CORE brought a perfect mix of live performances (Jungle and Shygirl) and DJ sets that blew us away (Nina Kraviz and Peggy Gou). Both the location—in Ossegem Park next to the Atomium in Brussels—and the very diverse but fun crowd were on point. It was clear that the Tomorrowland team was in charge of the stage designs and setting, with the stages and everything in between looking good and in touch with the nature of the park.

The second edition of CORE Festival is happening on May 27 and 28, 2023. Tickets are on sale right now.

Forest stage at Paradise City

Doel Festival

Doel Festival, a collaboration between Paradise City Festival and Klub Dramatik, had its debut in 2022 and immediately made it into this list, which is impressive. The rather small festival had its four stages located inside an (almost fully) abandoned village called Doel, next to a working nuclear power plant.

The weekend of Doel Festival’s big debut, the weather was absolutely horrible. It was raining, and there was a very strong and cold wind. This would be a nightmare for any festival organizer, but it actually brought a sense of togetherness to the cool crowd of brave ravers.

We hear that a second edition of Doel Festival is in the works and might happen sooner than you’d expect, allegedly. We suggest keeping an eye on the Doel Festival Instagram page for updates.

All images by Oriane Verstraeten

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