• CHANGING TIMES, PASSION, DESIRE AND AN OVERDOSE OF LUCK. THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE ELEMENTS THAT HAVE TURNED ROCK WERCHTER INTO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND – ACCORDING TO ITS COLLEAGUES – BEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD. THE CONCISE HISTORY OF A FESTIVAL BETWEEN 1975 AND 2006.
    in 1967, a so-called beat happening was organised. Long before Woodstock in the United States and Isle Of Wight in Great-Britain. At its height in 1978, Jazz Bilzen, back then a four-day festival, drew 15,000 festival-goers on its main day. Three years later, only 6,000 people showed up and the festival folded. In 1981 in Torhout and Werchter, about 20,000 and 27,000 spectators showed up. Things really ‘exploded’ in Werchter in 1982, when about 40,000 people were standing at the festival gates. What was a-happening?