The 18 hour long festival of techno, tech-house, house and disco music, known as the 18HRS Festival, began on July 13th 2019. This was the 9th edition of this wonderful festival and it’s clear that there will be many more to come. Because this festival was exhilarating!
18 HRS festival in Balkenhaven
A quick shuttle bus from the charming city of Zaandam took me straight to the festival, found in the beautiful venue known as Balkenhaven.
I absolutely adored this location. It was close to the water and had a funky arrangement of buildings & stages. As soon as I entered, I went through a building that had a strong retro vibre.
Here you could buy tokens, and find lockers. Once I walked through the building, I stepped outside to find an abundance of food trucks and hear the seductive music from the mainstage. A short walk lead me to the enchanted crowd, dancing to the tech-house music blaring from the speakers.
Stages on 18 HRS festival
Each stage had it’s own unique theme. The mainstage, Flow, was a vibrant beachy, open air stage. Chicago Vice was energetic and set inside a halfpipe. Blackbox was a dark, grungy type stage; and Defected was inside a building with a retro disco vibe. Geroez Moes coincided strongly with a bumpin’ club.
I was totally in LOVE with each of these stages and their unique themes! And so was everyone else at the festival! One of the best parts of the 18HRS Festival was how everybody was having a blast. All dancing to the music because it created such an incredible atmosphere.
If you want to see the festival on video then watch my vlog below!
Going to 18HRS festival next year?
I had a marvelous time at 18HRS Festival but was rather sad to leave early due to limitations of the train schedules.
But overall, the festival had a great location, extraordinary atmosphere and a fantastic lineup! If you like techno, tech-house, house, and disco, I would definitely recommend going to 18HRS Festival next year!
