Twelfth edition with many international roots music acts at Noordplein in Rotterdam.
With a sold-out Saturday, the twelfth edition of the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival was again a great success. People from all over the Netherlands – and from far beyond – knew where to find the green, cozy Noordplein. Spread over three days, about thirty acts from home and abroad treated the audience to American roots music. Bluegrass, country, folk and Americana, with an occasional excursion towards punk or desert blues. In addition to live music, there was an extensive side program with surprising children’s activities, workshops, theater, a market and of course lots of food and drinks.
On the site full of trees – which sometimes served as an umbrella, but fortunately much more often as a parasol – a lot of love had clearly gone into the decoration. Toilet attendants Jannie and Gré made sure that even going to the toilet was a party, and the jam area was used eagerly. This also applies to the option to bring your own rug or chair. So, in addition to all the picnic tables and artificial grass, there was plenty of space to recover from all the dancing.
“This year we have significantly fine-tuned the festival in all areas – from program to decor and everything in between. We have been able to further emphasize the open, idiosyncratic atmosphere that we want to create. We try to offer our visitors a magical experience, where they feel like they are in another world. Judging by the many wonderful reactions and the unprecedented good atmosphere, we have succeeded in this, and that gives us great satisfaction,” said festival director and founder Guido de Groot.
The musical highlights were strung together from the opening on Friday afternoon to the closing on Sunday evening. Such as Nat Myers, Sem Jansen & Leif de Leeuw, and the unparalleled demonstration in performance, style and playing by The Kody Norris Show from the US, Dom Flemons alias The American Songster with a beautiful musical lecture, the Zwolle Bertolf who, among others, Bob and Stephanie Struijk presented a revue of leaders from national roots music, the Spanish La Perra Blanco who evaporated one of the sporadic rain showers of the weekend with steamy rock ‘n’ roll and the magical collaboration between Kader Tarhanine from Algeria and the American Henhouse Prowlers that closed the festival.
