If you are into hard dance then you would have probably heard of Defqon.1 by now, or if you have been lucky enough, you may have even been to this music festival yourself. Defqon.1 started in the Netherlands in 2003 and plays pretty much exclusively hard style related genres of music like hard house, hard trance and hardcore techno. So if you are into anything remotely hard style, Defqon.1 is probably on your bucket list.
The music festival of Defqon.1 has certainly grown into this massive beast of a festival that it is today. Partygoers wait online for hours just to ensure that they secure their ticket to this ultimate hard dance festival and tickets tend to sell out in under an hour.
It seems like over the years the number of performers grows, as well as the number of people attending. This has resulted in the organisers extending the amount of days the festival goes for. The Netherlands has been extended from 2 to 3 days, while the Australian festival has been extended from 1 to 2 days.
Defqon.1 has quickly become the go-to music festival event and fans travel from right around the world to attend. If you are lucky to live close by, then you don’t have to pay as much money for transport. Defqon.1 has been running every year since 2003 in the Netherlands, except not in 2020 as Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, canceled all events (including music festivals) until September as a result of COVID-19.
There was also a Defqon.1 in Australia from 2009 until 2018. The founders of Defqon.1 announced in 2019 that since they were unable to find a suitable location for the music festival to take place in Australia, the festival would be suspended indefinitely, much to the despair of fans right across the country and even the world.
Although there is some hope with Australia’s capital city, Canberra, potentially opening its doors to holding the music festival in their city. The reason why the festival is looking for a new home is due to the drug-related activity and deaths that have taken place in the past at this event.
If the event were to be hosted in Canberra, pill testing would likely to be carried out, after a successful trial at another music festival. At the end of the day, taking illegal drugs is never a good option, but if people are going to do it anyway, it is best to ensure that they know what is in it, which is why pill testing is recommended.
During each year and at each venue, there is a theme and anthem, to ensure that fans are extra hyped. In 2018 at the Netherlands venue, the theme was Maximum Force, where almost 200,000 fans made their way to this festival and there was an impressive 226 performers on the various stages. This year was said to be the most fans that ever attended this festival.
The 2020 edition of Defqon.1, which has since been canceled, had the theme of Primal Energy. It is likely that all the performers and the theme that was going to be used in 2020 will be back for the 2021 edition once the COVID-19 situation improves and music festivals are allowed by then.
Defqon.1 is certainly one of the biggest hard dance music festivals in the world and it is the place to be if you love this type of music. It is difficult if you don’t live in one of the two countries that the festival is regularly in, but due to the current situation in the world, it may give you more time to save some money for the 2021 event.