Longest-running continuous annual popular music festival

The Pinkpop Festival has been held for 43 consecutive years (1970–2012) in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Attracting more than two million unique visitors and 644 different acts since 1970, Pinkpop has grown from a one-day festival in the city of Geleen to a three-day event in the town of Schaesberg, with an average annual attendance of almost 50,000. Pinkpop was staged in Geleen from 1970 to 1986, Baarlo (also in the province of Limburg) in 1987 and Landgraaf from 1988 onwards. The first Pinkpop Festival in 1970 welcomed the George Baker Selection, Dream, Golden Earring, Keef Hartley, Live, Livin’ Blues, Mr Albert Show and Opus. The most recent festival, on 26-28 May 2012, attracted the likes of The Cure, Keane, Linkin Park, Mumford & Sons, Soundgarden, The Specials and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Pinkpop 2013 will take place over the weekend of 14–16 June.

Pinkpop recorded its one-millionth unique visitor in 1996 and its two-millionth unique visitor in 2012. Total unique visitors from 1970 to 2012 inclusive: 2,059,425 (Pinkpop website says 2,086,425). The average attendance is 48,522.

The highest capacity for the Pinkpop Festival was 70,000 in 1994 but the highest number of unique visitors was recorded in 2008 (94,000). Note that tickets can be bought as weekend passes, so attendance figures are best measured by unique visitors to give a more accurate picture of the festival’s popularity.

The Pinkpop Festival has attracted many of the biggest names in rock and pop, including Fleetwood Mac (1971), Status Quo (1974), The Police (1979), U2 (1981), R.E.M. (1989), Van Morrison (1990), Radiohead (1996 & 2002), Robbie Williams (1999), Manic Street Preachers (1999, 2001 & 2011), Oasis (2000), Muse (2000, 2002, 2004 & 2007), Metallica (2008), Foo Fighters (2008 & 2011), Katy Perry (2009), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (2009 & 2012) and Coldplay (2011).

Other notable Pinkpop performers include Fairport Convention (1973), The Kinks (1977), Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1977), Dire Straits (1979), The Jam (1980), Van Halen (1980), The Specials (1980 & 2012), Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1981), Madness (1981 & 2009), ZZ Top (1982), Simple Minds (1983), Lou Reed (1987 & 1992), Iggy Pop & The Stooges (1987 & 2007), Red Hot Chili Peppers (1988, 1990 & 2006), Happy Mondays (1991), Pearl Jam (1992 & 2000), Rage Against the Machine (1993-94, 1996 & 2008), The Smashing Pumpkins (1994, 1998 & 2007), Dave Matthews Band (1995-96 & 2007), Fugees (1996), Leftfield (1996), Bush (1996-97, 2000 & 2002), The Chemical Brothers (1996 & 2005), The Prodigy (1996, 2005 & 2010), Faithless (1997-99, 2002 & 2005), The Black Eyed Peas (2004), Sugababes (2004), Morrissey (2006), Paul Weller (2006), Arctic Monkeys (2007), Linkin Park (2007 & 2012), The Killers (2009), Motörhead (2010), P!nk (2010) and Kings of Leon (2011).