The Lowlands, or more formally, The Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, is a music festival held in the Netherlands every year. It’s a three day festival, and in 2019, it will be held the weekend of August 16th to 18th. It’s held in the town of Biddinghuizen, which is located a short drive east of Amsterdam. It’s been held since 1993, and is one of the most exciting music and performing arts festivals in Europe. It is actually inspired by an early pop festival that was held in the Netherlands, which was called A Flight to Lowlands Paradise. Although the festival has evolved drastically since then, it still retains the original quirky spirit.
2019 Headliners
One of the things that makes the Lowlands so exciting is that it’s multigenre. This year, some of the biggest headlines are popular alternative bands like Tame Impala, Twenty-One Pilots, and Franz Ferdinand, as well as 80s classic New Order. You’ll also find hit artists from other genres, like rapper A$AP Rocky, pop star Billie Eilish, and singer-songwriter James Blake. There’s also a large selection of smaller musical acts from around the world. No matter what your taste in music is, there’s something here for you.
Festival Experience
The Lowlands is a huge festival with 12 stages and music from a variety of different genres, from rock to pop to hip-hop and more. The festival is also known for other types of performing arts – you’ll see hundreds of different performances, including theater, dance, comedy, and more. You might even see experimental performance art. There are also plenty of attractions on site, including a cinema, spa services, a market with shopping from all over the world, and great restaurants with a variety of different cuisines.
Planning Your Weekend
If you want to get the full festival experience, you can actually camp at the Lowlands site, Walibi Holland. There are a limited number of campsites, but they do have helpful luxuries like hot showers and toilets to make the experience more comfortable. The beautiful countryside is incredibly scenic, but transforms into a small city during the festival, with virtually everything you might need for the weekend on site.
If you are travelling internationally to get to the festival, the easiest city to fly into is Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, you can opt to rent a car and drive, which takes about an hour. You can also take public transit – you can take the Sprinter train to Dronten, and then from there take a bus to Biddinghuizen. If you do not want to camp at the festival, you can stay in one of the town’s many charming bed and breakfasts.
Why You Should Go
Lowlands Festival is something that should be on every music lover’s bucket list. The sheer diversity of the festival is one of the things that makes it so unique, because you get to explore a variety of different genres you might not have otherwise found. The performing arts aspect also makes it appealing, because there’s so much more to explore than just the music. Finally, the Dutch countryside is absolutely stunning and is a great escape from everyday life.