The Pukkelpop festival is an annual music festival which takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid-to-late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland, between a dual carriageway called Kempische Steenweg, in the village of Kiewit, approximately 7 km north of Hasselt. It is the second largest music festival in the country after Rock Werchter, with an attendance rate of 180,000 over the course of the event in 2009.
The programme is noted for its wide variety of alternative music, spanning styles such as rock, pop, electronic, dance, hip-hop, punk and heavy metal. The event's organisers aim the festival to be a "progressive and contemporary" musical event.[2] Notable acts that have performed at previous editions include Sonic Youth, The Mission, Ramones, Nirvana, The Sisters of Mercy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Metallica, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Pixies, Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails and Iron Maiden. The term "pukkel" is the Dutch word for "pimple". The festival will return in 2012, with Eminem, Foo Fighters and The Offspring among the headlining acts.
In 1991, the festival moved to its current home in Kiewit. In its first year, the event took place on the grounds of the children's petting farm (Dutch: Kinderboerderij) located in the village. Ramones headlined on a bill which included Nirvana, who performed at the festival a month prior to the release of the group's breakthrough album Nevermind. In 1992, the festival site was moved to the fields by the Kempische Steenweg motorway, where it has been held ever since.
In 1993, a new indoor stage called The Marquee was added, supplementing the outdoor Main Stage and almost doubling the amount of performers over the previous year. A second indoor stage, the Dance Hall, was added in 1994. In 1995, for the festival's ten year anniversary, the event became a two-day event for the first time, with Neil Young and The Smashing Pumpkins as the headlining acts. The festival also reached a peak in attendees at 60,000.
Pukkelpop provides free camping facilities to attendees. The camping site lies on one side of Kempische Steenweg, with the main event grounds located directly on the other, and is opened on the day prior to the commencement of the event. Traffic guards are implemented in order to direct traffic and attendees during the festival period. To incentivise use of public transport, an outward return trip within Belgium to Hasselt or Kiewit on the NMBS/SNCB train network or on the De Lijn bus network is included with all ticket types. A free shuttle bus, which runs regularly during the festival period, is also provided to-and-from Hasselt train station and the festival site in Kiewit. There are two ticket types available: day tickets, which provide access to one of the three days of the event, and "combi" tickets, which provide access to all three days of the festival.
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