Thirty years after organizing the first ever legal ”houseparty” in Amsterdam, Rocco Veenboer steps down today as director of ”his precious” Awakenings.

”I’m 55 years old now and it’s time to hand over my tasks and responsibilities to the new generation”

During Easter of 1997 the name Awakenings was introduced for a party that was just focusing on techno music at the Gashouder in Amsterdam. After conquering Amsterdam, Awakenings took place in monumental venues such as the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven and the Graansilo in Rotterdam. However Awakenings is known best by far because of its massive weekend-festivals in Spaarnwoude and Hilvarenbeek, which attract ten-thousands of people per day.

In the past decade, Awakenings has grown to become the biggest event-brand in the Netherlands with approximately 300.000 visitors each year.

”We organized 3 events in 1997, which attracted a total of about 10.000 visitors. We were one of the pioneers to go all out regarding the audiovisual aspects of our events. Looking back, we’ve been able to welcome about 3,5 Million visitors at Awakenings. It’s been fantastic for decades. I’m very grateful that I lived in Amsterdam in 1988 and got to be a part of the musical house & techno revolution.”

This isn’t Veenboer’s last appearance within the entertainment industry. He will stay on as a consultant of the techno-empire Awakenings until 2027.