Amsterdam, Netherlands · 30 JUL 2027 - 01 AUG 2027 (est., unconfirmed)
Dekmantel Festival
The Amsterdam label's own festival in the Amsterdamse Bos, four days of deliberately eclectic house, techno and disco booking across forest stages.
History
Dekmantel started small and stayed independent on purpose. Thomas Martojo and Casper Tielrooij, childhood friends from The Hague, moved to Amsterdam in their early twenties and threw their first party under the Dekmantel name in 2007, at a venue that held about 200 people, with San Proper on the bill. It grew fast from there: the illegal Nachtmantel parties, a sold-out monthly clubnight at Club NL, and one-off nights at Studio 80 and Flexbar built a local following well before Dekmantel had a fixed home.
The label followed the parties, launching around 2009 to 2010 with early releases from Juju & Jordash and San Proper, largely because the crew wanted a way to put out music that wasn't finding a home elsewhere. By the time Matthijs Theben Terville joined as a partner, Dekmantel Soundsystem, the label and the club nights, had become one of Amsterdam's more influential independent electronic music operations, well before any of it involved a festival.
That came in August 2013: a three-day event in the Amsterdamse Bos, the woodland park on Amsterdam's southwestern edge, capped at 5,000 tickets and headlined by Four Tet, Jeff Mills and Floating Points. It grew to 8,000 to 9,000 tickets the following year, with a Three Chairs set from Moodymann, Marcellus Pittman, Rick Wilhite and Theo Parrish among 2014's standout moments, and it has continued expanding since while staying in the same patch of forest every summer.
Dekmantel marked ten years in 2024 with an expanded, ten-day program that spread well beyond the Bos itself: shows at Het HEM, a converted munitions factory, conference programming at Aan Het IJ, and screenings at EYE Filmmuseum, alongside a newly built, 360-degree stage called The Loop and a lineup including Jeff Mills, Carista, Young Marco, Jyoty and Palms Trax. The label side of the operation stays just as active: Steve Rachmad released his orchestral debut album "Light And Time" on Dekmantel in August 2026, a record RTS.FM named among the best techno albums of summer 2026, proof the label's A&R instincts still extend well past the festival's own stages.
festival facts
- Founded: 2007, as a clubnight in Amsterdam, by Thomas Martojo and Casper Tielrooij
- Founders/Organizers: Thomas Martojo and Casper Tielrooij, joined by Matthijs Theben Terville, who together also run Dekmantel's record label and Dekmantel Soundsystem
- Venue: Amsterdamse Bos, the woodland park on Amsterdam's southwestern edge, the festival's home since its first edition in 2013
- Format: A three-day (now expanded, multi-venue) event across forest stages, launched at 5,000-ticket capacity and grown substantially since
FAQ
When did Dekmantel Festival start?
Dekmantel Festival launched in August 2013 in the Amsterdamse Bos, four years after Thomas Martojo and Casper Tielrooij's Dekmantel clubnight had already grown into a record label.
Is Dekmantel a record label or a festival?
Both. Dekmantel began as a clubnight and record label in Amsterdam in 2007, and only became a festival in 2013; the label continues to release music from artists including Steve Rachmad independently of the festival's yearly lineup.
Where exactly does Dekmantel take place?
In the Amsterdamse Bos, a large woodland park on Amsterdam's southwestern edge, where the festival has been held every year since its 2013 debut.
Has Dekmantel's capacity grown a lot?
Yes. The first edition in 2013 was capped at 5,000 tickets; by 2014 that had grown to 8,000 to 9,000, and the festival has continued to expand in the years since.