Rumours have been flying on social media for weeks and naysayers and doom peddlers were as certain as death: there’s no final line-up announcement on the horizon.

But the wait is finally over: the first batch of names has arrived and our star-studded roster includes such top acts as British rockers EDITORS, a scintillating show by MARSHMELLO and LIAM ‘WONDERWALL’ GALLAGHER’S Pukkelpop debut.

There’s also the happy reunion with ANNE-MARIE’S radiant smile, we’ve got an invigorating show by BALTHAZAR and NETSKY’S long-awaited return to Kiewit. American hip hop phenomenon FUTURE is also stopping by, no Pukkelpop without our beloved in-house mashup masters 2MANYDJS and CHARLOTTE DE WITTE will happily subject our Pukkelpoppers to her extremely efficient Doppler effect. BURNA BOY offers the perfect blend of reggae, hip hop and pop, the targeted beats of NINA KRAVIZ will leave no one untouched and dEUS fans will also mark Pukkelpop on their summer event calendars. Or maybe you prefer the authentic guitar sound of SAM – WHAT’S IN A NAME – FENDER, the single-minded post punk of IDLES or the a priori captivating home game of local heroes WHISPERING SONS.

In a normal Pukkelpop universe organisers start by announcing the line-up before tickets go on sale. However, due to a series of exceptional circumstances they had to do it the other way round for this historic edition – the world truly has gone haywire. Even in times where we’ve learned to take changes in stride, it was still quite a stretch. Against all odds, though, 70% of all combi tickets were snaffled up within the first few hours. Without announcing a single name beforehand that is truly mind-boggling.

This year’s edition will definitely go down in PKP history as the year of safety first, modalities and protocols. The organisers are preparing for August in close consultation with the competent authorities but meanwhile everyone realises that we’re in for an extraordinary experience!