The secret is out again. Best Kept Secret Festival delivers a big line-up on small terrain.
In the nether regions of the Netherlands, the self-proclaimed Best Kept Secret (BKS) Festival had its second coming June 20th-22nd in the south of Holland. Located 100 kilometers, or two unpronounceable train stops from Amsterdam, BKS is situated at a campsite in Hilvarenbeek, near the Belgian border.
Though a smaller festival than many with a camping option, BKS provided a formidable line up, with main stage acts including James Blake, Franz Ferdinand, Babyshambles, Elbow and Belle & Sebastian. The second stage as well showed name brand acts such as Metronomy, The Horrors, Caribou, Interpol and Chvrches. Regrettably, Factory Floor, scheduled for the second stage, was cancelled.
Perhaps contradictory to the festival’s strong line up, BKS was organized without noticeable corporate influence. Festival-goers were pleased to mention that all of the on-site food services were from ethical producers, and that BKS was a generally more bohemian environment than other European festivals.
Verifying legitimacy for BKS was the presence of Roger, aka, ‘Crazy Festival Dude’, the cougar-loving Flemish festival regular who boasts 25,000 followers on his Facebook page, since he had an article published about him by the Dutch chapter of Vice Magazine.
2014 was only the second installation of the annual festival. Due to a strong Belgian presence at the inaugural event, this World Cup year, the organizers constructed a massive projector screen for the Belgian stronghold to gather around for the match against Russia. The final score was 1-0 Belgium, which was lucky for the campground, as drinks on the Belgian dollar are always preferable to hooliganism fueled by disappointment.
