Festival company Superstruct Entertainment is currently undergoing a major restructuring. The company, which owns dozens of events in the Netherlands and abroad and counts ID&T among its subsidiaries, is pulling the plug on several festivals for the coming year. According to sources close to the matter, this is the result of an increasingly tight festival market, where rising costs, stricter regulations and shrinking margins leave little room for uncertainty.

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Reporting by 3voor12 shows that festivals without a clear profile or with ongoing financial instability are the first to fall, losing out to larger and more stable brands. The conclusion is clear: only events with a strong identity and healthy financials still stand a chance of survival. Insiders see the intervention at Superstruct as more than a one-off clean-up.

No immediate impact on harder styles

Although the current measures do not affect hardstyle or hardcore festivals directly, the development is still relevant to the scene. Superstruct is owned by investment firm KKR and has ID&T – one of the most important players in harddance – in its portfolio, including organisations and events such as:

  • Q-dance (Defqon.1, Dominator, together with Art of Dance)
  • Art of Dance (Masters of Hardcore, Dominator, Supremacy, Snakepit)
  • B2S (Supersized Kingsday, Decibel outdoor)
  • Thunderdome
  • Mysteryland, which will skip an edition in 2026

That these festivals remain unaffected for now does not mean the scene is immune. The situation at Superstruct can be seen as a warning sign: the bar is being raised, margins are shrinking, and tolerance for risk is decreasing. For the harddance scene, this means that events with a strong identity, international appeal and a loyal community appear to be the most future-proof. Smaller or less sharply positioned concepts may find it increasingly difficult to survive under these conditions.

“The shake-up at Superstruct could just be the beginning”

The role of KKR within the festival world has long been a topic of debate. Critics fear that investment logic and return expectations are increasingly outweighing cultural value and scene identity. The current restructuring at Superstruct has reignited that discussion. Festivals that fail to perform convincingly are given little room to reposition or recover.

Music journalist Atze de Vrieze summarised the situation succinctly in his analysis for 3voor12: “The shake-up at Superstruct could just be the beginning.”