ROTTERDAM, 31 March 2026 – Festerfest will return to Baroeg on Sunday 5 April for its tenth and final edition, becoming the first publicly accessible try-out event in the venue’s new building in Lombardijen. For Rotterdam’s underground music scene, that gives this farewell edition an extra charge, linking the end of one festival story to the beginning of a new chapter for the city’s oldest pop venue.
Image: The new Baroeg concert venue. Photo: Roelof Mulder
Festerfest has always moved between scenes and cities, but Baroeg is where the story now comes full circle. The festival was founded in 2013 by organiser Frank van Hekezen and previously took in venues in Dordrecht, Delft, The Hague and Rotterdam before landing back in Baroeg for its closing chapter.
That return carries extra weight because the new Baroeg building at Spinozaweg 300 is not yet officially open. The venue reopens on 25 April, but Festerfest will be the first try-out event there that the public can actually attend.
A full-circle moment for Baroeg
For Baroeg itself, the timing feels fitting. Festerfest already held two editions in the old venue, with the last of those becoming one of the final concerts before the previous building was demolished. After a Baroeg On Tour stop in Musicon in The Hague, the festival now returns to the venue that increasingly became its natural home.
Van Hekezen puts it like this: “After the first edition in the old Baroeg, in 2023, I already felt that Festerfest had come home there. That also makes sense: I have felt connected to this venue since 1998. The energy, the people, the atmosphere: it just fits here. It makes the circle even more beautiful that we also end at Baroeg.”
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A line-up built for the underground
The final edition reflects the full spread of Festerfest’s underground instincts. Hulder leads the bill, joined by acts including Down With The System, Samavayo, Ontaard, Day Drinker, Akelei, MAZIS, Headless Hunter, Savage Beat and Manica, plus DJ sets from DJ Zot & Rot and DJ Warrior.
That means you can expect a programme that moves across black metal, stoner rock, post-metal, street punk, doom metal, dark ambient, tribute chaos, gabber and more. It is exactly the kind of stylistic collision Festerfest has built its identity on since the beginning.
Hulder to perform at Festerfest in Baroeg
What makes this edition different
There is also something symbolic about this final instalment happening inside a brand-new Baroeg. The new building, now visible on Spinozaweg with its sharp angular form and dark cladding, signals a new era for a venue that has long mattered to Rotterdam’s harder and more alternative music communities.
So even if you have never been to Festerfest before, this one lands as more than another date on the calendar. It is a farewell to a festival, a first look at the new Baroeg, and an early glimpse of how this corner of Rotterdam-Lombardijen will sound once the venue fully reopens later this month.
How to get there
Baroeg is at Spinozaweg 300, 3076 ET Rotterdam, in Rotterdam-Lombardijen. If you are coming from the city centre, the easiest route is usually by train to Rotterdam Lombardijen, followed by a short bus, bike ride or walk through the surrounding residential area. If you know the south side of the city, you are heading towards the edge of Lombardijen rather than central nightlife territory, which makes this feel very much like a destination venue.
Practical details
Festerfest takes place on Sunday 5 April 2026 and starts at 14:30. Advance tickets cost €21, while tickets on the door cost €24. More information is available viahttps://baroeg.nl/.
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