If you drive south from Den Bosch in the direction of Schijndel, you will see the well-known tents and light poles looming on the horizon, at De Molenheide riding school. So far everything is familiar. When you walk into the festival site afterwards, you can hear five music flavors pounding together, from dance to hip-hop and pop: that also sounds familiar.
The last time Noord-Brabant experienced the popular pop festival Paaspop in the region was three years ago. The three-day festival at Schijndel was the first of the calendar during the first corona wave of 2020, and that cancellation was a harbinger of what was to come. Now all signals are green again, as long as it lasts, and Paaspop is celebrating the opening of the summer festival season as usual.
And although at first glance nothing seems to have changed after three years of silence, there are still some novelties to be found. At one of the opening concerts on Saturday, in the Apollo marquee, a drone flies over the audience. And that buzzing plane, equipped with a camera, also casually flies from the hall onto the stage to float between the band members and the dancers. We had never experienced that before at a festival.
Also noteworthy: the beer and cola price. Inflation also strikes here: a filled plastic cup is sold for 3.20 euros. We can prepare for a precious festival season.
But singer Maan does not want to think about that yet. ‘I got out of bed with my good leg today’, she sings on Saturday afternoon. “I just want to live a little.” And that’s what everyone at Paaspop wants. The sun is shining, friends and groups of friends are hugging each other at the rock tent Thunderbolt and joining a brass band walking through the grounds. ‘Easter doll, show that you are the craziest’, Maan is still calling from the Apollo.
Set designer Misha de Bok is relieved and proud that everything is back in place. ‘That applies to all the people who work here, and who can see with their own eyes what they have built up.’ The exorbitant and beautiful sets of Paaspop, for which the festival has become so famous, have been in storage from 2020, says De Bok. But they didn’t come out as smoothly as in previous editions. ‘All processes have to be re-learned, the way you have to handle the material, everything.’
Many event industry employees and freelancers have moved on to something else. De Bok himself has written and published a children’s book during the corona time. And he also contracted long covid. ‘I find that confronting now. I notice that I am tired faster and that I am less able to deal with the light and sound around me. Perhaps visitors with the same problem will notice that in the near future.’
According to Paaspop director Chris Seijkens, organizing the first major summer festival after the pandemic was not exactly a routine job. ‘We are lucky because we are very early in the season, so our suppliers have just been able to supply all the materials. But when the season starts soon and there are several festivals per weekend, I do foresee problems. There are still many festival items at vaccination locations and refugee shelters. I wouldn’t be surprised if festivals can’t take place after all.’
Paaspop was also just able to avert a staff shortage at the bars on the site, for example. ‘For many employees in the area, working here is simply too much fun, so we managed to find enough people just in time.’ But that problem will also get worse when the whole of the Netherlands will be filled with festival tents from June: a party every weekend.
Keeping that party fun is a priority at Paaspop. The public is eager. And it quickly becomes very cozy at the bars around, for example, the Disco Snolly dance tent. Seijkens: ‘The public also has to get used to it. And we have also discussed with our medical partners that it could be a little different this year.’
Not only the audience is eager: the artists are also looking forward to it. Paaspop contains all the big Dutch names that showed up just before corona, and who therefore had to miss audience and income for two years. For Antoon, S10 and Froukje, Paaspop is now even more important than before: the Dutch circuit, on which these names depend, will open again and at Paaspop they can put themselves in the spotlight for the first time.
The Dutch reggaeton singer Quique also notices this, who puts on a handsome and energetic live show in the Roxy party tent, but for only a few handfuls of audience. Quique also gained fame just before the pandemic and could have attracted a large audience without lockdowns, because reggaeton is doing well. But at Paaspop he has to start again with his musical mission after two years of standstill. Winning souls, and above all don’t get stuck in the misery of recent years. “I’m so grateful for this,” he says after his show. ‘May it happen again. And that I was able to convince the public here after all.’