Smeets started Pinkpop in 1970 as a young twiniger, then still in Geleen. The Dutch festival is now the longest existing open-air festival in the world and has found its place on the Megaland site in Landgraaf, not far from the Belgian border. In comparison: Herman Schueremans (66) did not organize a first festival in Werchter until 1975, which would later develop into the four-day Rock Werchter. Both festivals are important events in the festival calendar, and often have similar posters.
Pinkpop started as a one-day festival on Whit Monday and has grown into a three-day festival with various stages and tens of thousands of visitors. For this, Smeets received the royal decoration of “Knight in the Order of Oranja-Nassau” on the 30th anniversary of the festival. In 2019 he was promoted to “Officer in the Order of Oranje-Nassau”. (see photo above)
The timing of the festival is no longer tied to the Whitsun weekend: Pinkpop will be organized in the course of June. In addition to being director of Buro Pinkpop and organizer of the festival, Smeets is also one of the presenters of the acts at Pinkpop. He is now stepping aside for health reasons, but Smeets says he will “continue to interfere”.
–
