Pukkelpop 2023

[DDave]

1 hour ago, Kaboom Boxer said:

Where does Boiler Room fit in with regards to Main Stage clashes?

Boiler is non stop from when it opens to when it closes. 

Here is a clashfinder which will be fairly accurate. 

https://clashfinder.com/m/pkp23/?user=Djp1976

[Semprini]

19 hours ago, DDave said:

Yeah I thought that as well. Pukkelpop love a repeat booking. How is the dance side of it overall? Must admit this is the year I've known the least amount of names in the Boiler.

It's pretty much on par with previous years. DH is a bit hit and miss (for me anyway as I'm not into rap and hip hop) but Bicep are a great booking. Nice to have Moderat, M83 and 2manydjs in the Marquee but nothing of note on the Main this time. Boiler is a bit more 'themed' each day this time - Techno on Fri and Sunday and Drum and Bass on Saturday - rather than everything mixed up but there's no one I'm mad about seeing. Got quite a few I'm looking forward to in the Booth though - DJ Heartstring, Blawan, Aquarian, Skin on Skin, Sherelle, Young Singh and Anz. The Lift is probably the most interesting stage as can't wait to see Piri, Ascendant Vierge, Nia Archives and Two Shell.

[tomato12345]

Another stupid one here. Since I last went I have decided to get down with the youth and take up the habit of vaping. Are security alright with taking elquids in?

[gigi21]

23 hours ago, tomato12345 said:

Another stupid one here. Since I last went I have decided to get down with the youth and take up the habit of vaping. Are security alright with taking elquids in?

I think it's ok but I would ask messaging them on Facebook or Instagram to be sure

[DDave]

Here's what we should have gotten

[Semprini]

On 6/29/2023 at 2:11 PM, DDave said:

Here's what we should have gotten...

In all fairness, there seem to be a lot of 'missed' opportunities this year when you look at who's around. I'll reserve final judgement until we have the full line up but can't see there's much space left for some of the bands I want to see/should see there?

Been following the RW stream and comments on here and Festileaks over the weekend and there's a lot of unhappy people. Mad to think that PKP put the extra day on last year with Liam and Editors and I heard they only sold about 5,000 tickets. I appreciate you can't compare that with a festival that has 80,000 people on site, and limited competition with other stages at the time, but sounds like it's been a mess when certain acts have been in the Barn.

They booked Fred again.. really early on (think he was in the first announcement?) and his stock has risen astronomically since then so really baffling why they didn't move him on to the Main? A friend of mine who's working there sent a video during his set and there were thousands of people outside the tent watching the screens.

Looked like they were all having a great time but I'm so glad we don't have this issue at PKP. The only time I can remember a stage being properly shut down was in about 2010 (?) when dubstep was really kicking off and they had Rusko, Skream and Benga in the old Chateau tent. There were people crawling under the fences and ripping down the sides of the tent (was an old circus style big top) to get in. I managed to make it through but it was so hot inside that I left after about 10 mins!

[Death By Sexy 2.0]

90% of combi's sold out. I am surprised. 

[johnybegood]

After a deep analysis of the line-up we have decided to buy combitickets for PKP'23. I hope that this year won't happen anything strage in August. Really looking forward to go back to Hasselt. My daughter birth in july 2018, plus de pandemic and a last minute health problem last year... So we didn't make it since 2017.

Lot of nice bands in the Backyard catalogue, plus some interesting "modern" rock bands as Turnstile, The Amazons, Osees or Brutus, some nostalgic acts as The Killers, Dropkick Murphys or Limp Bizkit and lot of cool bands that we have discovered as Royel Otis, High Vis, Kennyhoopla, Ascendant Vierge or Zulu, make an interesenting mix that you cannont find at any festival in Europe.

Now it's time to wait for the last names and for the schedule.

See you all in Hasselt in 6 weeks!!!

[DDave]

4 minutes ago, johnybegood said:

After a deep analysis of the line-up we have decided to buy combitickets for PKP'23. I hope that this year won't happen anything strage in August. Really looking forward to go back to Hasselt. My daughter birth in july 2018, plus de pandemic and a last minute health problem last year... So we didn't make it since 2017.

Lot of nice bands in the Backyard catalogue, plus some interesting "modern" rock bands as Turnstile, The Amazons, Osees or Brutus, some nostalgic acts as The Killers, Dropkick Murphys or Limp Bizkit and lot of cool bands that we have discovered as Royel Otis, High Vis, Kennyhoopla, Ascendant Vierge or Zulu, make an interesenting mix that you cannont find at any festival in Europe.

Now it's time to wait for the last names and for the schedule.

See you all in Hasselt in 6 weeks!!!

Great news!

[Semprini]

7 hours ago, johnybegood said:

After a deep analysis of the line-up we have decided to buy combitickets for PKP'23. I hope that this year won't happen anything strage in August. Really looking forward to go back to Hasselt. My daughter birth in july 2018, plus de pandemic and a last minute health problem last year... So we didn't make it since 2017.

Lot of nice bands in the Backyard catalogue, plus some interesting "modern" rock bands as Turnstile, The Amazons, Osees or Brutus, some nostalgic acts as The Killers, Dropkick Murphys or Limp Bizkit and lot of cool bands that we have discovered as Royel Otis, High Vis, Kennyhoopla, Ascendant Vierge or Zulu, make an interesenting mix that you cannont find at any festival in Europe.

Now it's time to wait for the last names and for the schedule.

See you all in Hasselt in 6 weeks!!!

Will definitely meet up for some beers!

[johnybegood]

33 minutes ago, Semprini said:

Will definitely meet up for some beers!

That's 100% sure!!!!

[TheNewUnion]

On 6/29/2023 at 2:11 PM, DDave said:

Here's what we should have gotten

Just watched Girl in Red at NOS. She's mint and had the loudest reaction from the crowd I've heard so far (though Lizzo did go off big time)

[Otto77]

This afternoon Pukkelpop announced that the last 500 ombitickets were on sale.

Maybe now sold out (combitickets, not daytickets)?

[DDave]

1 hour ago, Otto77 said:

This afternoon Pukkelpop announced that the last 500 ombitickets were on sale.

Maybe now sold out (combitickets, not daytickets)?

Next day or two probably. Tomorrow if there's a decent name or two added. First time it'll have sold out this early for years. Good going given the weak Saturday main stage line up. 

Edited July 11, 2023 by DDave

[DDave]

15 minutes ago, DDave said:

Next day or two probably. Tomorrow if there's a decent name or two added. First time it'll have sold out this early for years. Good going given the weak Saturday main stage line up. 

All sold out now. Watch them drop some zingers tomorrow lol. 

[AJJ]

Hi there! My wife and I are heading to Pukkelpop next month. It's a very last minute thing and I just wanted to ask if anyone knows how difficult it is to travel from Hasselt/Kiewit rail station on the Monday morning? Also, if anyone has any general tips or advice I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

[DDave]

3 hours ago, AJJ said:

Hi there! My wife and I are heading to Pukkelpop next month. It's a very last minute thing and I just wanted to ask if anyone knows how difficult it is to travel from Hasselt/Kiewit rail station on the Monday morning? Also, if anyone has any general tips or advice I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

Hi and welcome! It's pretty easy to get back on the train on the Monday morning, although expect it to be busy of course, full of ruined kids lol.  Double decker trains means there's loads of capacity, so it shouldn't be a problem getting on one.

Are you camping or staying in Hasselt?

[AJJ]

2 hours ago, DDave said:

Are you camping or staying in Hasselt?

Thank you so much Dave! We'll be camping in Camp Relax. I looked into staying in Hasselt itself, but it looks like the more affordable options have (understandably) been snapped up by now.

[gigi21]

14 hours ago, AJJ said:

Thank you so much Dave! We'll be camping in Camp Relax. I looked into staying in Hasselt itself, but it looks like the more affordable options have (understandably) been snapped up by now.

We've discussed that here before... It's a small city and the hotel fares are very expensive during PKP, unless you book them months in advance, taking a look at the offers. Some of us usually book a room with free cancellation for the year after (the shame is that I finally canceled my reservation at Yup Hotel for this year edition a couple of days ago).

About trains, it's very easy to catch them and you have a free ride from any Belgian train station and way back. I used it to visit Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges during the past years.

Enjoy the festival and the Belgian beers at PKP Cafè and feel free to ask any other info.

[AJJ]

Thank you Gigi, I really appreciate it! I would normally have planned our trip much more in advance but it was a very sudden decision. I'm an animator and they're screening some of my work on the big video projection 'wall' this year, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be there in person!

[DDave]

1 hour ago, AJJ said:

Thank you Gigi, I really appreciate it! I would normally have planned our trip much more in advance but it was a very sudden decision. I'm an animator and they're screening some of my work on the big video projection 'wall' this year, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be there in person!

Wow, great stuff! - The art/presentation side has really gone up a notch in the last few editions, bet it'll be ace seeing that.

Can't really comment on camping as I and probably most of this board haven't done it. Think the Spar nearby is the point of call for food/beer etc. At the entrance to the festival, as its opposite a quite well to do housing estate, a lot of the house owners turn their front gardens into bars and a place to eat for the weekend, a lot cheaper than in the festival itself and usually good quality. Getting in and out of the festival is very quick and easy, as is well... everything. It's the best organised festival I've been to.

If you can, I'd really recommend visiting Hasselt for a spot of lunch and a few beers before heading back up to the site. Shuttle buses are regular and free and Hasselt's a lovely place and it's just as much a part of the weekend as the festival is. We normally have lunch at the Grote Markt and maybe the Irish Times for a couple before heading up to the festival, depending on whose on of course - you can sometimes spot the acts at the various hotel bars as well - seen Richie Hawtin, Marcus Mumford etc knocking about - even shared a lift with the keyboard player from Elbow and had a pint with one of Chase Atlantic lol. Train back to Kiewit is easiest as it's one stop and are every hour, or you can get a taxi, which are a fixed price so you're not getting ripped off

[AJJ]

5 minutes ago, DDave said:

If you can, I'd really recommend visiting Hasselt for a spot of lunch and a few beers before heading back up to the site. Shuttle buses are regular and free and Hasselt's a lovely place and it's just as much a part of the weekend as the festival is. We normally have lunch at the Grote Markt and maybe the Irish Times for a couple before heading up to the festival, depending on whose on of course - you can sometimes spot the acts at the various hotel bars as well - seen Richie Hawtin, Marcus Mumford etc knocking about - even shared a lift with the keyboard player from Elbow and had a pint with one of Chase Atlantic lol. Train back to Kiewit is easiest as it's one stop and are every hour, or you can get a taxi, which are a fixed price so you're not getting ripped off

This is all hugely helpful, thank you so much for all the extra information and advice! 

[tomato12345]

On 7/16/2023 at 11:45 PM, AJJ said:

Thank you so much Dave! We'll be camping in Camp Relax. I looked into staying in Hasselt itself, but it looks like the more affordable options have (understandably) been snapped up by now.

Can fill in the camping bit. All very organised with showers, food mart cooking spots and toilets that are kept upto scratch. It still uses the token system but prices are cheaper than on the festival site (not a cheap as the vendors outside). The vendors will also sell you a 12 pack of beer for a little markup if you don't want to walk to the nearest shop. When I last went I was in chill but arrived Friday (did relax years ago in its previous location when it was miles away from the site) and still only took 2-3 minutes to get out the campsite from the very back. Not really any late night entertainment in them with the festival running so late. It also rained a bit last time but didn't get too muddy at all. 

[AJJ]

1 hour ago, tomato12345 said:

Can fill in the camping bit. All very organised with showers, food mart cooking spots and toilets that are kept upto scratch. It still uses the token system but prices are cheaper than on the festival site (not a cheap as the vendors outside). The vendors will also sell you a 12 pack of beer for a little markup if you don't want to walk to the nearest shop. When I last went I was in chill but arrived Friday (did relax years ago in its previous location when it was miles away from the site) and still only took 2-3 minutes to get out the campsite from the very back. Not really any late night entertainment in them with the festival running so late. It also rained a bit last time but didn't get too muddy at all. 

Amazing! Thank you for the info, it's really helpful.

[Liliam]

Hi, sorry if those questions will sound a bit  stupid but I've never been to a festival before. How hard is it to get to the barricades? And how early more or less you should be there to try to reach them? (I don't mind standing for many hours) and is there usually a line next to the festival arena before the grounds open?