| Best Kept Secret | |
|---|---|
 The entrance to Best Kept Secret in 2014 | |
| Dates | Early-to-mid June |
| Location(s) | Hilvarenbeek, North Brabant, The Netherlands |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Website | www.bestkeptsecret.nl Best Kept Secret Festival (in American English) |
Best Kept Secret is a three-day music festival held inside the Safaripark Beekse Bergen, within the village of Hilvarenbeek, in the south of the Netherlands, since 2013.
Best Kept Secret is a music festival with a line-up in which big names are alternated with new discoveries from indie, folk, hip-hop, rock, electronics or a mixture of styles. The festival's centerpiece is a lake at the back of Beekse Bergen safari park. The festival's founder described his vision as aiming to create "something that we’d like to go to ourselves".[1]
Best Kept Secret festival has one open air stage (ONE), three tent stages (TWO, FIVE and SEVEN) and two dance floor stages: THREE and FOUR. For the 2017 edition Best Kept Secret added 'The Casbah', a dive bar and hang-out, that hosts performances of hardcore bands. For the 2019 edition Best Kept Secret added SEVEN, a smaller tent stage for experimental performers.
History
The festival is organized by Dutch booking agency Friendly Fire.
In June 2013 the first edition was held, and sold-out each day with 15,000 visitors.[2]
The festival has been nominated twice at the European Festival Awards:[3]
- Best Festival Line-Up 2014
- Best Medium-Sized Festival 2014
In 2013 the festival won the 'Best Festival Award' at the 'IJzeren Podiumdieren' award show at Eurosonic Noorderslag.[4] The 'IJzeren Podiumdieren' award show is an initiative by the Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia- en Festivals (Dutch venues and festivals association).[5]
Best Kept Secret festival introduced 'the food line-up' for their first edition. The festival organization strives for diverse and sustainable food options, including vegetarian meals, soup and juices.
Following the 2019 edition, the new booker of the festival became Maurits Westerik, who is also the frontman of the Dutch band Bewilder. He replaced Robert Swarts.[6]
Festival summary
| Edition | Year | Dates | Headliners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2013 | June 21–23 | Arctic Monkeys · Damien Rice · Sigur Rós / Portishead |
| 2nd | 2014 | June 20–22 | Pixies / Interpol · Franz Ferdinand · Elbow / Lykke Li |
| 3rd | 2015 | June 19–21 | The Libertines · Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds / A$AP Rocky · Alt-J |
| 4th | 2016 | June 17–19 | Beck · Editors · Jamie xx |
| 5th | 2017 | June 16–18 | Run the Jewels · Arcade Fire · Radiohead |
| 6th | 2018 | June 1–5 | Arctic Monkeys · The National · LCD Soundsystem |
| 7th | 2019 | May 31–June 2 | Bon Iver · Kraftwerk · Christine and the Queens |
| — | 2020 | Scheduled: June 12–14 | Scheduled: The National · The Strokes · Massive Attack |
| — | 2021 | Scheduled: June 11–13 | |
| 8th | 2022 | June 10–12 | Alt-J / Jamie xx · The Strokes · Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds |
| 9th | 2023 | June 9–11 | The Chemical Brothers · Oscar and the Wolf · Aphex Twin |
| 10th | 2024 | June 7–9 | Justice · Disclosure · PJ Harvey |
Editions
2013
| Best Kept Secret 2013 (1st edition) | ||
| Friday June 21 | Saturday June 22 | Sunday June 23 |
|---|---|---|
|
Arctic Monkeys
|
Damien Rice
|
Sigur Ros
|
2014
| Best Kept Secret 2014 (2nd edition) | ||
| Friday June 20 | Saturday June 21 | Sunday June 22 |
|---|---|---|
|
Pixies
|
Franz Ferdinand
|
Elbow
|
2015
| Best Kept Secret 2015 (3rd edition) | ||
| Friday June 19 | Saturday June 20 | Sunday June 21 |
|---|---|---|
|
The Libertines
|
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
|
alt-J
|
In total, around 95 artists, bands and DJ's performed at Best Kept Secret festival 2015.
2016
| Best Kept Secret 2016 (4th edition) | ||
| Friday June 17 | Saturday June 18 | Sunday June 19 |
|---|---|---|
|
Beck
|
Editors
|
Jamie XX
|
In total, around 100 artists, bands and DJ's performed at Best Kept Secret festival 2016.
2017
| Best Kept Secret 2017 (5th edition) | ||
| Friday June 16 | Saturday June 17 | Sunday June 18 |
|---|---|---|
|
Run The Jewels
|
Arcade Fire
|
Radiohead
|
2018
| Best Kept Secret 2018 (6th edition) | ||
| Friday June 8 | Saturday June 9 | Sunday June 10 |
|---|---|---|
|
Arctic Monkeys
|
The National
|
LCD Soundsystem
|
2019
| Best Kept Secret 2019 (7th edition) | ||
| Friday May 31 | Saturday June 1 | Sunday June 2 |
|---|---|---|
|
Bon Iver
|
Kraftwerk
|
Christine & The Queens
|
References
- ↑ Festival Review: Best Kept Secret 2014, The Line of Best Fit, April 17, 2015
- ↑ Eerste editie festival Best Kept Secret uitverkocht
- ↑ Nominees European Festival Awards 2014 Archived February 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Nieuwkomer Best Kept Secret beste festival". NU (in Dutch). Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ↑ Nieuwkomer Best Kept Secret beste festival, de Volkskrant, 18 January 2014
- ↑ Wierikx, Job (2019-06-02). "Maurits Westerik nieuwe directeur Best Kept Secret". Festileaks.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
Sources
External links
