Festival By Year
| Year | Dates | Guests per day (avg) | Main artists | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 5,000 | Philip Catherine, Jan Akkerman, Kayak & Dr. Feelgood | ||
| 1978 | 6,000 | Talking Heads, Dr. Feelgood, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds & Rockpile | ||
| 1979 | 12,000 | Raymond van het Groenewoud, Talking Heads, Dire Straits & Rory Gallagher | ||
| 1980 | 18,000 | Kevin Ayers, Fischer-Z, The Specials & The Kinks | ||
| 1981 | 23,500 | Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Cure, Robert Palmer & Dire Straits | ||
| 1982 | 37,500 | U2, Steve Miller Band, Talking Heads & Jackson Browne | ||
| 1983 | 36,000 | Eurythmics, Simple Minds, U2, Peter Gabriel & Van Morrison | ||
| 1984 | 55,000 | Chris Rea, John Hiatt, Joe Jackson, Simple Minds & Lou Reed | Schueremans and De Meyer created StageCo Staging Company. All Audio and Video equipments were dismantled at Torhout and transported to Werchter to be built up for the Werchter leg of the festival. This had to be done in 10 hours. | |
| 1985 | 63,000 | Ramones, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, U2 & Joe Cocker | ||
| 1986 | 60,000 | Simply Red, Talk Talk, UB40, Elvis Costello & the Attractions & Simple Minds | Ticket price was 850 Belgian Franks, which is 21 Euro nowadays. | |
| 1987 | 60,000 | Iggy Pop, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Pretenders, Eurythmics & Peter Gabriel | ||
| 1988 | 60,000 | Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, Los Lobos, John Hiatt, INXS, Bryan Adams & Sting | Bryan Adams records Live! Live! Live! while it "rained in torrents." | |
| 1989 | 50,000 | Texas, Pixies, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Elvis Costello, R.E.M. & Lou Reed | ||
| 1990 | 60,000 | Lenny Kravitz, Ry Cooder/David Lindley, Sinéad O'Connor, Midnight Oil, Bob Dylan & The Cure | ||
| 1991 | 50,500 | Happy Mondays, Bonnie Riatt, Pixies, Iggy Pop, Paul Simon & Sting | In Torhout the crowd spontaneously started throwing empty bottles onto the stage during Iggy Pop's concert, soon filling the skies with bottlework. The samen happened in Werchter the next day, ending with bottles hitting peoples' heads and resulting in injuries. This incident marked the beginning of the prohibition of visitors bringing their own drinks to the festival, a decision criticized and allegated to be for mere commercial purposes. | |
| 1992 | 60,000 | The Smashing Pumpkins, Crowded House, Lou Reed, Red Hot Chili Peppers & Bryan Adams | Kiedis shouted at the crowd: "If you love us, throw more mud!" A few seconds later the stage was transformed in a place best described as a mud fight arena. | |
| 1993 | 60,000 | Sonic Youth, Faith No More, Neil Young with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Lenny Kravitz & Metallica | ||
| 1994 | 50,500 | Tool, Therapy?, Sepultura, Rage Against the Machine, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd & Aerosmith | A camping festival was held the night before the festival itself. dEUS and Tool performed at this stage. | |
| 1995 | 65,000 | Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, The Offspring, The Cure, The Cranberries & R.E.M. | Second stage added. | |
| 1996 | 50,000 | David Bowie, Chemical Brothers, Afghan Wigs, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Björk, Pulp (band), Massive Attack, Foo Fighters & Neil Young & Crazy Horse | First time as a two-day festival. First time ever Radiohead played Paranoid Android. | |
| 1997 | 50,000 | David Bowie, Daft Punk, Supergrass, Live, Radiohead, Jamiroquai, The Smashing Pumpkins, Beck & dEUS | ||
| 1998 | 20,000 | Sonic Youth, Eagle Eye Cherry, Garbage, Therapy?, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Beastie Boys & Björk | ||
| 1999 | 3 – 4 July | 51,500 | Pavement, Blur, Marilyn Manson, Placebo, Robbie Williams, Faithless, Lenny Kravitz & R.E.M. | First time in Werchter only |
| 2000 | 30 June – 2 July | 55,000 | Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Bush, A Perfect Circle, Counting Crows, The Cure & Eels | First time as a three-day festival |
| 2001 | 29 June – 1 July | 60,000 | Fun Lovin' Criminals, Sting, Beck, Placebo, PJ Harvey, Muse, Sigur Rós, Grandaddy, Faithless, Coldplay, Incubus | |
| 2002 | 28 – 30 June | 63,000 | Sonic Youth, The White Stripes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, Queens of the Stone Age, Faithless & Coldplay | |
| 2003 | 26 – 29 June | 70,000 | Radiohead, Björk, Massive Attack, Moby, Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, R.E.M. & Coldplay | First time as a four-day-festival Arthur award for Best festival in the world |
| 2004 | 1 – 4 July | 70,000 | The Cure, Metallica, KoЯn, Lenny Kravitz, Pixies, Muse, 2 Many DJ's, Placebo & Moloko | Arthur award for Best festival in the world. Headliner David Bowie cancelled because of a shoulder nerve injury. 2 Many DJ's were flown back from the UEFA Euro 2004 Final in Lisbon to replace him. |
| 2005 | 30 June – 3 July | 80,000 | New Order, The Chemical Brothers, Garbage, Green Day, Kraftwerk, Queens of the Stone Age, Snoop Dogg, Faithless, Rammstein, Foo Fighters & R.E.M. | |
| 2006 | 29 June – 2 July | 80,000 | Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, dEUS & Depeche Mode | Arthur award for Best festival in the world |
| 2007 | 28 June – 1 July | 80,000 | Muse, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Pearl Jam, The Chemical Brothers, Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age & Faithless | Arthur award for Best festival in the world. Pearl Jam finally played at the festival after cancellations in 1992 (Eddie Vedder's stress collapse) and 2000 (drama at Roskilde). |
| 2008 | 3 – 6 July | 80,000 | The Chemical Brothers, R.E.M., Moby, Neil Young, Radiohead, Sigur Rós, dEUS, Beck & Kaiser Chiefs | The ILMC (who gives the Arthur Awards) changed her restrictions, a festival which has won 2 years in a row can't enter the next year. This change has been done in favour of the other festivals. |
| 2009 | 2 – 5 July | 80,000 | Limp Bizkit, The Killers, Lady Gaga, Placebo, Metallica, Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Oasis, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand & Nine Inch Nails | European Festival Award for Best line-up, artist's favourite festival and best promotor |
| 2010 | 1 – 4 July | 80,000 | Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam, Muse, Pink, Rammstein, Faithless, Green Day, Them Crooked Vultures & Editors | |
| 2011 | 30 June – 3 July | 82,750 | Linkin Park, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Iron Maiden, The Chemical Brothers, Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, Robyn & Black Eyed Peas | European Festival Award for Best line-up |
| 2012 | 28 June – 1 July | 85,000 | Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Garbage, Justice, Pearl Jam, Deadmau5, Mumford & Sons, Editors, Chase & Status & Snow Patrol | Third stage added |
Read more about this topic: Rock Werchter
Famous quotes containing the words festival and/or year:
“The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)