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| Best Kept Secret | |
|---|---|
 The entrance to Best Kept Secret in 2014 | |
| Dates | Early-to-mid June |
| Location(s) | Hilvarenbeek, North Brabant, The Netherlands |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Website | www.bestkeptsecret.nl |
Best Kept Secret is a three-day music festival held inside the Beekse Bergen, within the village of Hilvarenbeek, in the south of the Netherlands, since 2013.
Best Kept Secret is a music festival with a line-up in which big names are alternated with new discoveries from indie, folk, hip-hop, rock, electronics or a mixture of styles. The festival's centerpiece is a lake at the back of Beekse Bergen safari park. The festival's founder described his vision as aiming to create "something that we’d like to go to ourselves".[1]
Best Kept Secret festival has one open air stage (ONE), three tent stages (TWO, FIVE and SEVEN) and two dance floor stages: THREE and FOUR. For the 2017 edition Best Kept Secret added 'The Casbah', a dive bar and hang-out, that hosts performances of hardcore bands. For the 2019 edition Best Kept Secret added SEVEN, a smaller tent stage for experimental performers.
History
The festival is organized by Dutch booking agency Friendly Fire.
In June 2013 the first edition was held, and sold-out each day with 15,000 visitors.[2]
The festival has been nominated twice at the European Festival Awards:[3]
- Best Festival Line-Up 2014
- Best Medium-Sized Festival 2014
In 2013 the festival won the 'Best Festival Award' at the 'IJzeren Podiumdieren' award show at Eurosonic Noorderslag.[4] The 'IJzeren Podiumdieren' award show is an initiative by the Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia- en Festivals (Dutch venues and festivals association).[5]
Best Kept Secret festival introduced 'the food line-up' for their first edition. The festival organization strives for diverse and sustainable food options, including vegetarian meals, soup and juices.
Following the 2019 edition, the new booker of the festival became Maurits Westerik, who is also the frontman of the Dutch band Bewilder. He replaced Robert Swarts.[6]
Festival summary
| Edition | Year | Dates | Headliners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | 2024 | June 7–9 | Justice · Disclosure · Paolo Nutini · PJ Harvey |
| 9th | 2023 | June 9–11 | Aphex Twin · The Chemical Brothers · Oscar and the Wolf |
| 8th | 2022 | June 10–12 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds · The Strokes · alt-J · Jamie xx |
| - | 2021 | Scheduled: June 11–13 | Scheduled: The Strokes · Massive Attack · The National (cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) |
| - | 2020 | Scheduled: June 12–14 | Scheduled: The Strokes · Massive Attack · The National (cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) |
| 7th | 2019 | May 31–June 2 | Bon Iver · Christine and the Queens · Kraftwerk 3D |
| 6th | 2018 | June 1–5 | Arctic Monkeys · LCD Soundsystem · The National |
| 5th | 2017 | June 16–18 | Radiohead · Arcade Fire · Run the Jewels |
| 4th | 2016 | June 17–19 | Beck · Editors · Jamie xx |
| 3rd | 2015 | June 19–21 | The Libertines · Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds · A$AP Rocky · alt-J |
| 2nd | 2014 | June 20–22 | Elbow · Franz Ferdinand · Interpol · Lykke Li · Pixies |
| 1st | 2013 | June 21–23 | Arctic Monkeys · Damien Rice · Sigur Rós · Portishead |
Editions
2024
2023
2022
| Best Kept Secret 2022 (8th edition) | ||
| Friday June 10 | Saturday June 11 | Sunday June 12 |
|---|---|---|
|
alt-J
|
The Strokes
|
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
|
2019
2018
| Best Kept Secret 2018 (6th edition) | ||
| Friday June 8 | Saturday June 9 | Sunday June 10 |
|---|---|---|
|
Arctic Monkeys
|
The National
|
LCD Soundsystem
|
2017
| Best Kept Secret 2017 (5th edition) | ||
| Friday June 16 | Saturday June 17 | Sunday June 18 |
|---|---|---|
|
Run The Jewels
|
Arcade Fire
|
Radiohead
|