Coldplay here we come!!

We were super bleak to hear that Coldplay are finally playing in South Africa this year, just when we have left. Imagine our surprise and excitedness upon hearing that they are playing at a festival called Pinkpop in the Netherlands this weekend!!

‘Pinkpop’ might sound like a Gay Pride Parade but it is actually a 3 day music festival held over the Pentecost long weekend at Landgraaf in Southern Netherlands. Pentecost is ‘Pinksteren’ in Dutch and the logo for the festival is a doll in a pink dress hence ‘pinkpop’. The first festival was held in 1970 and this year is the 42nd time that the festival is being held. Pinkpop has been announced by Guinness World Records as the oldest musical festival in the world.

We only learnt about the festival yesterday when Justin’s brother Brenainn told us that Coldplay are playing in the Netherlands THIS weekend and are we going?? We seriously need to get informed! Weekend tickets are sold out already but lucky for us day tickets are still available and we bought two tickets for Saturday. Coldplay here we come! =)

Before you start feeling too jealous, we will have a 3 hour train trip to get there, another 3 hours to get back and will probably only get home at about 3 o’clock in the morning. Not to mention the ~60 000 strong crowd which no doubt be mostly drunk and the strong possibility of rain. Will be just like going to a 2010 World Cup Soccer match! Except no vuvuzela’s, which can only be a good thing! At least we have had some training then. I can’t remember the last time I got home at 3am. Thought my days of that, short lived as they were, were over. Apparently not! I’m glad it’s not me playing a cricket game on Sunday ;~)

Coldplay is the main act for Saturday playing a 1.5 hour set starting at 21:00. Other acts on Saturday include De Staat (who?), Manic Street Preachers, Madi, Lifehouse, Ash, Simple Plan, Elbow, Selah Sue, and Alter Bridge. The main act on Sunday is Kings of Leon and on Monday is the Foo Fighters. There are more acts on Sunday and Monday than Saturday but we recognise more of the bands playing on Saturday! We must be getting old.

But Pinkpop isn’t just about the music. Festival goers can also sign an Amnesty International petition to release human rights activist and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo, currently held as a political prisoner in China and also learn more about Oxfam and their goals of ensuring fair trade and food security in a fight against poverty and suffering.

If you want to know more, see pics of previous festivals and can handle reading it all in Dutch, check out www.pinkpop.nl.

So, hope you have a kewl weekend and see you on the other side of Pinkpop!

x