Karnaval Festival will be held at the Brabanthallen for the second year in a row in 2026. Remko Hermans, the creative mind of the organization, explains why the event has moved indoors and what is needed to recreate the atmosphere of an outdoor festival indoors in the first episode of PLAFONDDIENST season 3.
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This year marks the 12th edition of the Karnaval festival, with the second indoor edition in the event’s history. The first 10 editions took place at an outdoor venue in Moergestel. Remko Hermans from the organization explains why the decision was made to move the event indoors.
The party can go ahead indoors anyway
“We celebrated Karnaval Festival outdoors for many years, but the weather is often still bad in February. It rained a lot during Karnaval Festival for a number of years, and in 2024 we even had to cancel it because of the bad weather,” says Hermans. “Then we heard from a specialist that there could be a lot of bad weather during carnival in the coming years. So we decided to move to the Brabanthallen, so that the party could go ahead anyway and you could enjoy carnival nice and warm and dry.”
The fact that Karnaval Festival is now held indoors is not only pleasant for visitors. The organization also benefits from it. The construction is now also covered and is therefore not dependent on the weather to get everything done on time. “Of course, the weather not only has a major impact during the event, trucks and buses also have to drive on and off the site, and ultimately visitors also have to park in fields. Getting stuck in the mud is not a pleasant experience,” says Hermans. “Now you can just park in front of the door and you’re inside, so to speak.”
Challenging to recreate the atmosphere of Karnaval Festival indoors
According to Hermans, the organization was a little nervous last year. An outdoor festival naturally has a great atmosphere, and many people were skeptical about whether they could recreate that in the Brabanthallen. “We spent a lot of time and attention on completely covering all areas, and we were very curious to see what people would think of it,” says Hermans. “But fortunately, we heard from many people that we had really succeeded in bringing the festival atmosphere indoors.”
MC Villain has performed at Karnaval Festival 11 times before. He is also happy that the event is being held indoors again. “You stay nice and dry, and the music sounds so much better. Outside, the strong winds in February can ruin the sound, but indoors, the whole space is filled with sound and it just sounds so much better.”
This Saturday, Karnaval Festival will take place again. For more information about the brand-new Karnaval Festival Show, stories about last year, and sneak peeks of what Flux Overload and BMBERJCK have prepared for their sets, listen to the Karnaval Festival Special from PLAFONDDIENST, the first episode of season 3, HERE!
