This year the eleventh edition of REBiRTH Festival will take place. There are loads of changes on the program: among other things the event will now be transformed into a weekend festival. We spoke to the organization from REBiRTH about how they once started, the fact that the whole event is run by volunteers and of course the upcoming edition.
The very first edition of REBiRTH Festival was organized back in 2009. “It originated from the annual tug of war weekend from Haaren”, the organization explains. “A number of members frequently went to hardstyle parties in 2007, you could find them in the front almost every weekend. In those days hardstyle parties were already held in Haaren under the name of TWiSTED, but that’s how the idea of organizing a hardstyle evening started, instead of the usual Dutch party night.” The organization started from scratch and didn’t exactly know how to organize a music festival. Nevertheless, REBiRTH started to grow.
The festival grew tremendously over the last couple of years: they started with only one stage. “We had a license for about 1500 visitors, and at the first edition already 1200 people visited. It was a huge success for us! Hardstyle was really something new in those days, and certainly in our region.” They also had a lot less artists on the event in comparison to nowadays. “For the line-up we wanted to book the DJ’s we loved ourselves. The line-up consisted of six artists, including Headhunterz and Noisecontrollers.” From that moment on, REBiRTH started to grow extremely fast…
“REBiRTH is a great example of how a small village can be big”
In the years after 2009, they expanded the festival to two days. But, no matter the growth, REBiRTH Festival always believed having Dutch artists is very important. “We have always honored the Dutch aspect, and we still do that nowadays with the party cafe. We believe it’s important to give the people from Haaren and the other visitors something that they like,” the organization explains.
The team of REBiRTH consists of a core from four members with daily activities; in addition they have a group of sixteen volunteers. But that’s not all, they also have about 400 volunteers prior to, during and after the weekend! “Haaren is proud of REBiRTH and we are proud of all our volunteers of Haaren and beyond. With our foundation ‘Rebirth Samen voor Haaren’ we organize activities for elementary schools and elderly, so they can get acquainted with the festival. We really want to be a connecting factor in the village of Haaren and surroundings.” In the meantime, hardstyle Holland knows the village of Haaren as the true opener of the festival season.
“We think it’s extremely important to listen to our visitors”
The organization explains the music has changed a lot over the last ten years. To decide which kind of line-up they want, they take a look at other festivals for inspiration. They also believe that it’s really important to act on the needs of the visitors. “Through surveys and feedback groups we receive information about which artists our visitors want to see. We constantly have to be renewing, also in terms of the music styles we offer.” So, among other things, REBiRTH will have a new stage that is dominated by raw classics this year. “This is, as far as we are concerned, just amazing. The whole day you have true lovers of the music around you, and they just go nuts.” This year the festival will be three days, and for the first time ever there will also be a brand new camping. “With REBiRTH, we have always chosen to grow gradually. Last year we were satisfied with how the whole weekend went. That’s why this year was the right time to introduce the camping and the pre-party on Friday.”
“That really gave us goosebumps and was a confirmation we were on the right track with the festival”
In 2011 REBiRTH got an anthem for the very first time, made by Ran-D and B-Front. This led to an incredible moment for the organization: “B-Front opened his first set on the mainstage of Defqon.1 with our REBiRTH anthem. We were also there with a large part of our crew and friends. This was a moment we will never forget, we realized we were on the right track with our event.”
Another moment they will never forget, was during REBiRTH 2012. “At REBiRTH 2012 Frequencerz and B-Front were performing together, and that’s when the historical video was made of the whole hall that screamed along with the REBiRTH 2011 anthem. These are just two moments we will never ever forget.”
“That feeling of ‘we can go again’ creates an amazing atmosphere every year”
The future of the festival is looking bright, but the organization is looking at their plans year by year. “For now our focus lies with the fact that we want to give our camping and festival visitors an unforgettable experience. But, if we look a little bit into the future, the most important thing is we want to keep organizing big events of great quality and with affordable prices.”
Why we can’t miss the opener of the festival season? “REBiRTH is unique because it’s really the first festival of the season, with a huge outdoor stage. The joy and drive of the visitors and artists that ‘they can go again’ creates an amazing atmosphere every year. Thats’s how REBiRTH distinguishes itself from other festivals.”
REBiRTH Festival will take place the 12th, 13th and 14th of April 2019 in Haaren. For tickets and more information you can go to the official website of the event.
Photo by Facebook-page REBiRTH Festival
