Defqon1 Festival 2023

Why did I let him be cheap and choose the early flights? My mate Martyn and I are off to Defqon1 Festival in the Netherlands. We’re travelling to Amsterdam Schiphol and then getting a coach to the festival in Biddinghuizen near Walibi Holland. It attracts 65,000 fans a day and plays all kinds of harder genres over four days. Q-Dance know how to put on a show and it’s definitely worth the effort. 

The first day was a lot of hassle but once we arrived it was plain sailing. We got through the door with no issues and no queues and no searches. We even had our tents set up already in the Highlands Campground. 

We got settled in and headed straight out to the Black Stage. We were late but we made it in time to see Frenchcore Familia and it was an awesome start to the weekend, even though it was raining. I was just so happy to be back at the Holy Grounds. 

On Friday, after a little bit of rest, we made it out in time for the Opening Ceremony. It was a shame to walk past stages with DJs I loved but we were on a mission, and with all the clashes over the weekend, I’d negotiated I would go to some of the sets Martyn wanted if we went to the Black for Restyle. I wasn’t disappointed!

We also spent a lot of time over at the outdoor Gold stage for some sets like Tommyknocker and Korsakoff I think. We even made it to the Silent Disco that night with our tent neighbours. 

On Saturday we made it out in time for Power Hour which is an incredible hour of madness on the Red Stage full of giant inflatables, dancers in all sorts of costumes, huge flags and stage dives, fireworks and an aerial display from Red Bull. Power Hour is never complete without thousands of people taking part in the Left Right dancing shenanigans.

The amount of effort put into this is staggering and just like last year, I was overwhelmed with emotion and cried a few happy tears because we were back at my new favourite ever festival!

I’m not really sure where we ended up the rest of the day. Probably a mixture of Gold, Black and Red for Subzero Project and the End Show. 

I didn’t really get much sleep that night. We were back in the silent disco and messing about at the chill out areas and celebrating birthdays in tent takeovers after being asked to quiet down by security. I ended up having a rehydration tablet fail and mixing it with vodka. My mates were great and we sat around people watching in the campsite for a while until I felt more alive.  We got some food and took a stroll to the outdoor Black and down Toofargonia and after Martyn had a swim in the lake, we settled in at the hill at the Red stage for the finale. 

It was Sunday Funday and we had a right treat in store. Defqon 1 Legends, The Prophet: The Final as well as the famous Closing Ritual. We did get to see Sefa as the last legend and the others were wicked too. The Prophets farewell was emotional. What a legacy!

The End Show was phenomenal. I was grinning from ear to ear. My blisters were golf ball size at this point and my friends had to help me back after but it didn’t matter. I was stomping my arse off to these last sets and I was mesmerised by the pyrotechnic displays. 

We didn’t manage to finish the Scavenger Hunt this year. If you follow all the clues and get all the letters, it spells a word. Winners get two tickets for the following year so we spent loads of time on it last year and emailed it to Q-Dance but I never got a reply so we didn’t bother so much this time around. 

I loved the festival site. It was full of interesting extras like intriguing sculptures and random experiences, especially down Toofargonia which was also a nice route to our hill at Red Stage and had a cocktail bar with a lake you could swim in. They even have lifeguards. There was also a huge merchandise store which as normal had huge queues but this year, you can pre-order on the app and just pick it up without queueing. That’s a nice touch!

This year I have a few regrets about stuff I didn’t do. It was so hot and I just didn’t have the energy to get round everything like the airbed concert at the UV stage or the warrior workout. We keep missing the Closing Ceremony on the first night too. There were loads of clashes on the line up so I couldn’t see some of my faves like Paul Elstak or Gammer.  I’m kinda gutted I didn’t book a ticket for the Sefa theatre now too because our neighbours said it was so good it was indescribable and now I have FOMO. I just thought it was cheeky to expect us to pay more and it was a new Qash-Dance thing we should vote against with our £. Now I see that it was extra cash to put on this special occasion. Sorry Martyn!

Here’s some helpful info in case you’re planning to visit:

Tokens are needed to buy food, drink and some other stuff too like showers. I mainly spent them on drinks. You can buy with cash or card but it’s easier with card. It’s about €10 for 3 tokens and that gets you one chicken wrap or 2 Raspberry Stelz. 

Drinks. It’s really hard to get drunk at Defqon1. Liquor is banned so even the cocktails are premixed and taste so diluted. I was either drinking 3 token cocktails or 1.5 token Raspberry Stelz. You can buy small and Large Beers for 2 and 3 tokens. 

Food is available at Toofargonia or at the Wasted Lands.

Recycling Tokens are given to you on the way in. Keep it safe. You need to swap it for your first drink. Keep your cup or can or bottle and swap it back for a recycling token on the way out. Or…. Just pick up rubbish every time you walk to the bar to exchange for a new drink 🙂 otherwise you pay an extra token per drink. 

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