On april 27th we celebrate our Kings birthday during Kingsday. For people who live outside the Netherlands a short explanation of Kingsday; At Kingsday there are parties everywhere and we’re all dressed up in Orange. Of course, we had to attend to one of those parties. EA Events is this year responsible for the Kingsland festivals in four different cities; Amsterdam, Enschede, Groningen and Den Bosch. We drove to south of Holland to attend to the last one in Den Bosch. With two stages and acts like Nicky Romero, Sam Feldt and Hardwell it had to be a good party.

Reporter: Doenja Pluymen

Slow Start
Upon entering the festival area it’s a still a bit quite while Firebeatz is behind the decks. The early birds are probably still a bit hungover from Kingsnight because only some of them were dancing. When we hear this energetic duo play a lot of their own tracks like Rock right now we felt definitely ready to party. When Ummet Ozcan took over it was getting more crowded. Ummet is clearly ready to party while he’s dancing in the booth. Luckily the crowd follows his example and start dancing too. The vibe at Kingsland is very pleasant, people are drinking, dancing and enjoying the music. Ummet plays a lot of his own songs mixed with some current pop hits.

Avicii tributes
The next artist on the timetable is one of our favorite acts of today, no one less than Nicky Romero is taking over. He starts his set with a new collab together with Belgium duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. We can’t wait till this one gets released. An emotional moment during his set when he plays I could be the one as a tribute to Avicii, who passed away last week. He tells the crowd a couple years ago he suffered from anxiety just like Avicii did. But luckily Nicky is doing much better now which he proves with songs like Novell and Champion Sound.
Sam Feldt also plays a lot of Avicii songs, mixed with his own tropical melodies. One of those Avicii tracks is My feelings for you. I guess the younger part of the crowd probably doesn’t even know it’s an Avicii track, but it’s a real classic. His set suits the vibe perfectly, sunny weather, a drink in our hands, and at least those amazing Sam Feldt melodies.
The dancing made us hungry, during Yellow Claw it’s time for a break to have something to eat and check out the rest of the festival area. There is another big area, the Tiktak stage with acts like The Partysquad and Dyna, a karaoke bus, a carousel and a small tent with some fun dutch music. After our break it’s time to hit the ‘dancefloor’ again while Bassjackers is behind the decks. He plays a great set with song from Zedd and DJ Snake, it’s hard not to dance. At the end of his set it’s time for the official Avicii tribute. In all four cities at the same time we’re asked to clap our hands for a minute while Levels is blasting through the speakers, a beautiful moment.

Party time
The next duo knows how to party, and that is what Lucas and Steve do for the next hour. Their set is uplifting with a lot of their own tracks. We’re definitely a fan of this duo.
Quintino is ready to go a little harder. He released some great music over the last couple of months and he can’t wait to play them all for us. He plays songs like Mayhem together with Steve Aoki and a new collab together with Hardwell. But of course, he had to play his biggest hit Epic, the crowd is still going crazy to this one. Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano bringing back those oldskool vibes. It’s time to shake our hips one more time. Everybody still has a good time, but a lot of people are waiting for the closing act. We’re lucky that Hardwell will close Kingsland today. If someone know how to close a party, it’s him. He plays a lot of different styles in his set, like his new song Ze willen mee which is going back to his roots. But we’re also enjoying the signature Hardwell sound with song like Apollo and Spacemen. And the best way to close the night in Den Bosch is with some Hardstyle and of course some Guus Meeuwis. We had a great day and can’t wait to be back next year!