Nekka-Nacht

Nekka-Nacht (Eng. Nekka-Night) is an annual event organized in Antwerp, Belgium. Traditionally, it celebrates the career of a Dutch-language artist from Flanders or the Netherlands.^[1]

Nekka-Nacht
Raymond van het Groenewoud was twice the main guest (1999 and 2010)
Genre	Alternative rock, rock, indie rock, pop, hip hop, levenslied, folk rock
Location(s)	Antwerp, Belgium
Years active	1969–2018, 2022–present
Capacity	20.000 (Sportpaleis) 8.000 (Lotto Arena) from 2023
Organised by	Nekka vzw
Website	nekka.be

History

The first edition dates from 1969. Until 1970, the event was called Kazuno. From 1971 it was organized as Nekka. Back then, other-language artists also performed, and it was rather known as a folk-festival. The first Nekka-Nacht editions in 1994 and 1995 didn't have one specific main guest yet. Since 1996, different artists perform the songs of one main singer or band.

In 2013, a compilation album 20 Jaar Nekka Nacht was released.^[2]

Central guests

• 1996: Boudewijn de Groot
• 1997: Johan Verminnen
• 1998: Rob de Nijs
• 1999: Raymond van het Groenewoud
• 2000: Will Tura
• 2001: Stef Bos
• 2002: De Nieuwe Snaar
• 2003: De Kreuners and Frank Boeijen in a second edition
• 2004: Kommil Foo
• 2005: Herman van Veen
• 2006: Kadril
• 2007: Boudewijn de Groot^[3]
• 2008: Bart Peeters
• 2009: Zjef Vanuytsel and Yevgueni^[4]
• 2010: Raymond van het Groenewoud
• 2011: Thé Lau and The Scene^[5]
• 2012: Willem Vermandere
• 2013: 20th anniversary edition with young artists performing a song with one of the previous central guests.^[6]
• 2014: De Nieuwe Snaar^[7]
• 2015: Buurman
• 2016: "Flanders honors Toon Hermans"^[8]
• 2017: No edition due to withdrawal of main sponsor^[9]
• 2018: No central guest, performances of different artists^[10]
• 2019-2022: No editions
• 2023: Mama's Jasje^[11]

References

1. "NEKKA - Doelstellingen" [NEKKA - Objectives]. nekka.be (in Dutch). 12 August 2023.
2. "20 Jaar Nekka Nacht (2013)". musicmeter.nl (in Dutch). 10 August 2023.
3. "Nekka Nacht 2007 beloofd vuurwerk te worden met Boudewijn de Groot" [Nekka Night 2007 promises fireworks with Boudewijn de Groot]. frontview-magazine.be (in Dutch). 20 February 2007.
4. "Zjef Vanuytsel en Yevgueni zijn centrale gasten op Nekkanacht". De Morgen (in Dutch). 18 February 2009.
5. "Thé Lau centrale gast Nekka-Nacht 2011". nnieuws.be (in Dutch). 24 April 2011.
6. "Tien centrale gasten op Nekka Nacht". VRT (in Dutch). 26 February 2013.
7. "De Nieuwe Snaar: een allerlaatste keer". newfolksounds.nl (in Dutch). 20 February 2014.
8. "Peeters en Verminnen eren Toon Hermans op Nekka-Nacht" [Peeters and Verminnen honour Toon Hermans at Nekka-Nacht]. vrt.be (in Dutch). 20 January 2016.
9. "Geen Nekka-Nacht in 2017" (in Dutch). nnieuws.be. 9 March 2017.
10. "Jubileumeditie in mineur: Nekka-nacht wegens slechte ticketverkoop slechts één avond in plaats van twee" [Jubilee edition in a minor way: Nekka night only one night instead of two due to poor ticket sales]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 3 April 2018.
11. "Nekka-Nacht keert na vier jaar terug naar Lotto Arena in 2022" [Nekka-Nacht returns to Lotto Arena after four years in 2022]. vrt.be (in Dutch). 12 July 2021.