Awakenings Festival

Awakenings started on 30 March 1997 at the Gashouder in Amsterdam's Westergasfabriek, a round gas holder with an acoustic reputation all of its own. It is organised by Monumental Productions and takes its name from Easter. The parties moved to Rotterdam for a spell in 2000 and returned, and it went abroad from 2014. For years the summer festival was held at Spaarnwoude, between Amsterdam and Haarlem, but the main event now runs at Hilvarenbeek in North Brabant, around the Beekse Bergen grounds, and Spaarnwoude hosts the separate Upclose. One listing put the 2025 maximum at 50,000. Most of the music is techno and it does not pretend otherwise. Its Gashouder nights, particularly the Easter and New Year ones, remain the more interesting thing for anyone who cares about how a room sounds. House fans are included for two reasons. Many of them cross over, and the production standards set here have shaped what audiences expect everywhere. The festival's site has 9 to 11 July 2027 in Hilvarenbeek.