Yes! We’re back! Kind of. Luckily we can have a live version of the Lokerse Feesten this year, since last year Corona was in the way. This year, Corona is of course still there, but the Lokerse Feesten decided to have a scaled down version of the festival this year. This means that they still have a 10 day festival, but not as much bands and not as many people. Also, there will be no campsite this year.
Lokerse Feesten will be more of a concert series than a festival this year, but I still can’t explain how happy I am that there will be some form of festival happening this year. Let’s hope that next year, we can have the full festival back with campsite and a lot of artists and people. For now, let’s see what bands that we can expect. For the readers of GRIMM, you might be most interested in the bands that play on Saturday, July 31 or Thursday August 5, but don’t hold back from letting yourself be surprised by some of the other absolutely stellar (mostly Belgian) acts!
A lot of it is already sold out by the way, but there is a waiting list where you can leave your e-mail. In case there’s a ticket available, the organization will contact you. For some days, you can still buy tickets. You can check the line-up and the available tickets here.
Friday, July 30th is a Belgian alt-pop day, serving the alternative dreamy pop/shoegaze from The Haunted Youth and the weirdly satisfying electro rock from Goose, wrapped up with a DJ party from the hands of Jeroen Delodder.
Saturday, July 31th will get the hearts of heavy metal lovers pounding a bit harder with the surprisingly mesmerizing black metal project of Belgian pop/dance outfit Arsenal‘s vocalist John Roan: Lalma. Add to that the limitless energy and emotional spectrum that STAKE brings with everything they do, the beloved Belgian misfits of Channel Zero and to top it off, a DJ set by the wacko dudes of Goe Vur In Den Otto, and you know you’ll be damn right saturated for a while on your heavy metal needs…
Sunday August 1st has a bit of a double bill with our beloved metalhead stand-up comedian Alex Agnew doing a set in the afternoon and in the evening, you can expect another dose of quality Belgian pop music with Tin Fingers and the always impressive Arsenal, finished off with a DJ set by Bart Vermandere.
Monday August 2nd will bring the 2 girls (with buns) of the indie pop/folk outfit Kids With Buns to the stage, a captivating act that is the perfect warm up for Belgian’s contestant for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and beloved Hooverphonic. The night will get wrapped up by DJ Bylando B2B Bird.
Tuesday August 3rd has the first foreign band to take over the stage with the Dutch alternative rock band De Staat, that has been gaining a lot of popularity over the years, supporting some massive bands like dEUS and Muse. Followed by the our very own garage rock rebels of Black Box Revelation, this is a very tasty day for those who like it groovy and raunchy! Willem Jongeneelen will wave you out with his DJ set.
Wednesday August 4th might be one of those days that won’t appeal to most of our regular readers, but we recommend to still check out the West Flemish rapper Brihang and his buddies from the just as West Flemish band Het Zesde Metaal, closing with the DJ set of Radio Rommelmarkt.
Thursday August 5th might very well be the most popular one of the whole series of days. The Belgian rockers of Ramkot will get the place properly warmed up for the second foreign act of the week. No one less than the highly popular winners of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the Italian rock ‘n’ roll youngsters of Måneskin! The DJ set of Hakimm will wrap things up if you need somewhat of a cooldown after all of that!
Friday August 6th starts of the last weekend of concerts and is the first of a trio of double bills where the same bands will play both in the afternoon and evening. Today you get to welcome Bart Peeters & De Ideale Mannen for what will most definitely be a highly entertaining and energetic show and a DJ set from Bobby Ewing.
Saturday August 7th will turn it up with the extremely popular Flemish pop act Clouseau and Dirk Stoops with a DJ set, both in the afternoon and evening. We expect many of our readers to pass on this day, but hey, you never know.
Sunday August 8th is the very last day of 10 days of music with first our very own Puerto Rica stud Gabriel Rios turning up the heat and wrapping up with the popular Belgian indie rock/pop act Novastar, again both in the afternoon and evening.
You will not be able to buy tickets locally at the cash desk. All tickets need to be purchased online. As long as there are tickets available, even until just before the bands start, you are able to buy a ticket online at the same price as it was in the pre-sale. For this edition, there are no 10 day combi tickets, only day tickets. There are also no VIP tickets. In previous editions, children up to a certain age were free or could go for a cheaper price. This year, everybody needs to pay the full price. This is due to the profit loss the Lokerse Feesten experienced last year.
It will vary per day at what time the doors open for the afternoon shows. But at 17:30 o’clock, everybody will have to leave so the people that want to attend the evening shows can enter. Having read this, I’m assuming bands that play the afternoon and the evening, will play the same set but for different people. The doors for the evening shows will open between 18:30 and 19:00 o’clock. The shows will finish at 23:00 o’clock. By midnight everybody will have to leave the festival terrain.
The earlier you get there, the closer to the stage you will be. If you are with a group of more than 4 people, you should arrive together at the same time, so the organization will be able to give you your tables next to each other. This year, the Lokerse Feesten will work with the so called bubbles, to work Corona safe. Each bubble can contain a maximum of 4 people. If you are with more that 4 people, you need to reserve another table. If you want to come with less than 4 people, you will still have to pay the price for 1 table.
Important: This year you will not receive a bracelet. Once you are on the festival site, you are expected to stay till the end of the concert. Also important: You can still park your car in the industrial zone, but there are no shuttle busses to and from the concert back to your car. You can however walk there, but in my own experience it will take you up to 30 minutes. There will also be no special night busses to take you back home and no campsite this year. For other ways to get there, visit their mobility page.
You will not be able to pay by card or cash. A smartphone is needed with the Payconiq app or your own bank app. The staff will place QR codes on the tables for you to scan with your phone. A page will open where you can order what you want. That page will take you to your app of choice to pay your order. A member off the staff will come to serve you what you’ve ordered.
If you would like extra assistance to help you get around on the festival, Lokerse Feesten always makes sure that everybody can attend the festival. There will be bigger toilets for wheelchair users and also a raised platform so everybody can see the stage. If you want to use the raised platform, you don’t need to buy a regular ticket, but you have to contact the organization who will help you with all the needed information. You can find more information on their accessibility page about that.
So yeah, there are some savings this year but other than that, it looks to be an amazing edition. Hope to see you there (from a distance) and stay safe!
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!