Exactly three years ago, the GelreDome turned completely orange for the final time. On 30 September 2023, the last edition of X-Qlusive Holland took place. For years, entire trains packed with dressed-up visitors made their way to the Heineken Music Hall, Ziggo Dome and eventually the GelreDome at the end of September. It was where carnival, King’s Day and the harder styles came together, but above all, where crossovers happened that would have been unthinkable at almost any other hardstyle event.
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Anyone standing at a train station at the end of September could spot them immediately. Orange outfits, traditional Dutch smocks and the most ridiculous Dutch-themed costumes imaginable: entire groups were on their way to the biggest hardstyle pub in the Netherlands.
X-Qlusive Holland was never just another hardstyle event with a Dutch theme. For one day, the boundaries between hardstyle, hardcore, hip-hop and Dutch-language music disappeared completely. Suddenly, Deetox could share the stage with Lange Frans, Sound Rush could make music with Frans Duijts, while Outsiders combined his music with the likes of Django Wagner and Snelle.
Gerard Joling, Wolter Kroes, Kraantje Pappie, Henny Huisman and even DJ Oma all found their way to the event. Darkraver and Ransom shared the stage with Def Rhymz, while B-Front and Frontliner appeared behind the decks dressed as iconic Dutch duo Bassie & Adriaan. The crazier the combination, the better it seemed to fit X-Qlusive Holland.
X-Qlusive Holland created its own crossovers
But the event didn’t just provide a stage for unexpected combinations. Some of them existed because of X-Qlusive Holland. One of the best examples is Outsiders. During PLAFONDDIENST in 2025, he explained that making Dutch-language music had never been a deliberate direction in his career. That changed when he landed one of his first major dance bookings: X-Qlusive Holland. “So I took that event really seriously. I thought: wow, this is my chance.”
For his performance, Outsiders specifically started working on remixes of Dutch-language songs. He approached Django Wagner about remixing ‘Kali’ and immediately asked him to join him on stage at X-Qlusive Holland. The set was later uploaded to YouTube and, according to Outsiders, “went completely viral.”
That left him wanting more. For subsequent editions, he organised songwriting camps that resulted in new collaborations with artists including Snelle, Gerard Joling and John West. “I premiered all those Dutch remixes at X-Qlusive Holland,” Outsiders explained. “Now that it’s gone, I do it a lot less.”
That means the disappearance of X-Qlusive Holland left behind more than just an empty spot on the event calendar. Every year, the event gave artists a reason to look beyond the usual boundaries of the harder styles and create something they probably would never have made for a regular hardstyle event.
The perfect introduction to the harder styles
Those crossovers also made X-Qlusive Holland accessible to visitors who weren’t necessarily deeply involved in hardstyle. You didn’t need to know every track or artist to join in. Someone attending their first hardstyle event might not have recognised the classic playing moments earlier, but as soon as ‘Het Land Van’, ‘Kali’ or another familiar Dutch singalong came on, there was instant recognition. Moments later, a hard kick would come in and that same visitor would find themselves right in the middle of the polonaise.
It made X-Qlusive Holland an unusual but successful bridge between two worlds. Die-hard hardstyle fans could be standing right next to someone who had mainly tagged along with their friends for the atmosphere.
A space that remains empty
On 30 September 2023, the biggest hardstyle pub in the Netherlands opened its doors for the final time. Three years later, the individual ingredients are still around. Dutch-language songs are still turned into harder remixes and unexpected guest artists still appear on hardstyle stages.
But there is no longer an event that deliberately brings all of those worlds together on this scale. Dr. Rude expressed a similar feeling when looking back on the event during PLAFONDDIENST. “The loss of X-Qlusive Holland is very disappointing for everyone, but for me as well. It was simply a very unique and very special event.”
Perhaps that sums it up best. X-Qlusive Holland never needed to fit into one particular box. Instead, it was the place where all those boxes could be opened for one day. Three years later, the orange-filled trains are gone and the annual polonaise has come to a halt. But a successor to the biggest hardstyle pub in the Netherlands? There still isn’t one.
Images via: X-Qlusive Holland
