Down the Rabbit Hole (festival)

The festival's director is Eric van Eerdenburg, who also directs Lowlands. The first edition took place in 2014 from 27 to 29 June. A three-day ticket cost €135, and it was initially marketed as a little brother to Lowlands. De Staat was the first band that opened the festival on the initial Friday. It was headlined by Damon Albarn, The Black Keys and Foals.^[6] Down the Rabbit Hole also wanted to book Jack White, but he turned the offer down because he did not want to play the same festival as The Black Keys, who he feuded with. Quickly, the festival drew comparisons to Best Kept Secret, which began a year prior.^[8] During his set, Albarn broke the news that Bobby Womack had died.^[9] The Netherlands played Mexico in the 2014 FIFA World Cup at the same time that The Naked and Famous were playing, so half of all festival attendees watched a stream of the match on the hill instead of their set. Van Eerdenburg said that his plan was to grow the festival to be attended by 35,000 people soon.^[6]

On 17 December 2019, the festival announced its initial 2020 lineup.^[10] On 21 April 2020, the edition was cancelled because the Dutch government prohibited large gatherings until 1 September, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] In April 2021, it was announced that the 2021 edition would be delayed until late August and the location would be moved to the Lowlands site at Biddinghuizen, because the traditional July date was at greater risk of being cancelled and the larger site allowed for better safety.^[12] However, on 26 July 2021, the festival was cancelled because multi-day events with camping were prohibited by the government until 1 September, to meet stricter corona measures.^[13]

• Official website