Baroeg Open Air 2026 draws more than 10,000 fans

ROTTERDAM, 13 September 2026 – More than 10,000 music fans attended Baroeg Open Air in Rotterdam’s Zuiderpark on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September. The 17th edition was the festival’s first two-day outing, with 40 acts spread across five stages and more than 300 volunteers involved in the weekend.

_{Image: Fat Dog performing at Baroeg Open Air 2026 in Rotterdam. Photo: Jessica Santiago Lopez}

First two-day Baroeg Open Air

Baroeg Open Air expanded from one to two days for the first time in 2026, turning its annual celebration of alternative music into a full weekend in Rotterdam-Zuid.

Friday’s programme included British punk veterans Buzzcocks, Rammstein tribute band Vannstein and Manchester post-punk group IST IST. The broader line-up continued Baroeg Open Air’s characteristic mix of punk, metal, electronic music and harder alternative sounds.

With more than 10,000 visitors across the weekend, this year’s festival became a sizeable closing chapter to Rotterdam’s outdoor festival season.

Fear Factory and Fat Dog among highlights

Saturday’s Main Stage closed with Los Angeles industrial metal band Fear Factory. At roughly the same time, IJSLAND, the project bringing together Hang Youth frontman Abel, rapper Sef and producer Faisal, played the Electronic Stage.

British electro-punk band Fat Dog also appeared at Baroeg Open Air after performing at Pinkpop earlier in the year. Their set took the band directly into the crowd, continuing the kind of high-energy live performance that has become central to their reputation.

Another surprise came during gladde paling, when Joost Klein appeared behind the controls. Klein is best known internationally for representing the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest with Europapa.

Hydrogen power used at the festival

Baroeg Open Air also experimented with how a large festival can be powered. The event generated energy locally using hydrogen on a large scale, which the organisers describe as a first among inner-city festivals in the Netherlands.

The initiative was developed together with Rotterdam Festivals and the Municipality of Rotterdam as part of efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the event.

That technical experiment sat alongside a considerably larger festival operation this year, with five stages, 40 acts and hundreds of volunteers required to run the expanded two-day programme.

Baroeg marks a big year

The festival took place during an important year for Baroeg itself. The Rotterdam alternative music venue returned to its permanent home in 2026 after the opening of its new building on Spinozaweg in Lombardijen.

Baroeg Open Air has meanwhile reached its 17th edition, growing from a one-day gathering into a two-day festival while maintaining its focus on harder and alternative music.

More information about the festival is available at baroegopenair.nl.