Draaimolen

History

Draaimolen began with Milo van Buijtene, a Tilburg local who had spent years crossing Europe to catch his favorite DJs before deciding to build something of his own back home. The first edition landed in 2014 at Waterjump, an artificial beach venue, where van Buijtene and three friends who "all worked side jobs to make ends meet" drew around 3,000 people. It was modest, self-funded, and entirely independent, three qualities that have stayed constant even as almost everything else about the festival has changed.

Draaimolen moved four times over the following decade in search of the right site. In 2015 it relocated to Charlotte Oord, a forested plot where attendance grew to roughly 9,000, before the land was swallowed by commercial development and turned into a Decathlon and industrial units. The festival eventually found its home in 2019 at MOB Complex, a former Cold War-era Dutch military mobilization complex in the woods of Tilburg. The synergy was immediate: dense woodland crisscrossed by paths and clearings, close to ideal for cutting dancefloors directly into the trees. Capacity has since grown to around 13,000, still small by festival standards and deliberately so.

What sets Draaimolen apart is who gets to shape it. Individual stages are handed to artists and labels as curators rather than booked as a single unified bill. Blawan and Pariah have run The Pit, a sunken dancefloor lit by a strobe rig repurposed from football stadium camera equipment, since 2023. Eris Drew and Octo Octa have curated the tree-lined Forest Rave stage, building its sound system in what they call "boombox style" with dozens of subwoofers. In 2025, Bristol label Timedance took over the Aura stage to mark its own tenth anniversary, bringing Moritz von Oswald, Azu Tiwaline and Tikiman together for a live set as part of the celebration. The festival's centerpiece stage, Strobe, was designed in collaboration with the art studio Architecture Social Club, built around light and spatial design as much as sound.

That curator model has produced moments that ripple beyond the festival itself. In 2023, Batu and Donato Dozzy played an unplanned back-to-back set at Draaimolen that circulated widely online after the fact, a chance meeting between Bristol's Timedance scene and Rome's ambient techno lineage that the pair later turned into a full studio collaboration, the 2026 album Exhale. It is the kind of thing Draaimolen has built a reputation for: giving space for things that were not planned to happen.

The bills reflect that open-door approach. Spekki Webu and Batu both appeared on the 2025 lineup, and the 2026 edition on September 4 and 5, preceded by an opening concert at Tilburg's 013 Poppodium on September 3, brought Batu back alongside a commissioned live show from Fred P and a Donato Dozzy back-to-back with Job Jobse, in a lineup that ran past 200 names.

Running a not-for-profit, sponsor-free festival on a site it does not control has come with real risk. The MOB Complex is part of the province of North Brabant's Natuurnetwerk nature network, and in September 2025 the province said the site would no longer be available for festivals from 2026. The team launched a petition that drew more than 26,000 signatures, and on November 19, 2025 the province agreed that Draaimolen may stay for up to three years under new conditions: no more than two festival days a year, an annual field check by an independent ecologist, and yearly monitoring of noise, light and soil impact. The province has said it is up to the municipality of Tilburg to find a permanent alternative, which makes the 2027 edition a reprieve rather than a settled future, a rare case of a festival's precarity being tied directly to its refusal to compromise on the values that built it.

Draaimolen has since announced that the festival returns in 2027, on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11, at the MOB Complex. Early access opens on October 27 for anyone who attended in 2024, 2025 or 2026, with general sale following on October 29. A lineup has not been announced yet.

Getting there and practical info

Draaimolen takes place in the woods of Tilburg, a city in the south of the Netherlands, and the festival's own travel pages are built around Tilburg Central Station as the hub. The details below come from the festival's 2027 FAQ, travel and camping pages.

• Venue and address: MOB Complex, IJpelareweg 55, 5048 TA Tilburg, Netherlands. The site is open from 12:00 to 00:30 CET on both festival days.
• Nearest station: Tilburg Central Station (Spoorlaan 444, 5038 CH Tilburg). The festival says trains run from 5:30 in the morning until 00:38 at night, depending on your route.
• From the station to the site: a shuttle bus runs from Tilburg Central Station to the MOB Complex between 12:00 and 19:00, with return buses leaving the site between 21:00 and 01:30. Shuttle tickets are listed at 11.90 euros in the ticket shop and 13 euros on location. The festival also describes a marked fast bike route of around 25 minutes from the station, with free bike storage near the site, and OV-fiets rental at the station (limited supply, and it needs a personal OV-chipkaart with a subscription).
• Airports: the festival's travel page lists Eindhoven Airport, Amsterdam Schiphol, Rotterdam Airport and Brussels Airport as options. From Schiphol it describes a train to Tilburg with one change, taking roughly 1 to 1.5 hours.
• Taxi and ride-hailing: taxis drop off and pick up at Lombartsstraat. Bolt and Uber use a separate kiss and ride zone at Posthoornstraat, and the festival has coordinated its dates with Bolt.
• By car: the festival prefers public transport or bike. Parking is on unofficial, unsupervised ground near the site, at your own risk. Organised bus trips from the Netherlands and Belgium run with Partybussen.nl.
• Camping: the 2027 campsite is at Quirijnstokstraat 15, 5012 TC Tilburg, about a 10 minute bike ride from the festival site, and opens at 15:00 on Thursday, September 9, with check-out by 12:00 on Sunday, September 12. A camping ticket (66 euros per person) is sold separately from the festival ticket, and a camping shuttle links the station, campsite and festival. Pre-set accommodation from 125 to 610 euros is also sold.
• Hotels and hostels: the festival lists Hostel Roots, Bastion Hotel, Van der Valk Tilburg, City Hotel Tilburg, Het Wapen van Tilburg and Ibis Tilburg, and warns that Tilburg is a small city, so booking early matters.
• Age policy: the event is 18+ and ID may be checked at the entrance.
• Tickets: sold through the festival's own shop run by Celebratix, from October 29 at 19:00 CET. Official resale also runs through Celebratix, and tickets cannot be changed or cancelled. The listed weekend tiers are Early 140 euros, Regular 150 euros and Late 160 euros, with single-day Friday and Saturday tickets also available.
• What sets it apart: cameras and speakers are not allowed on site, outside food and drink cannot be brought in, and a recycling cup token system is used at the bars.

FAQ

Where exactly does Draaimolen take place?

Draaimolen is held at MOB Complex, a former military mobilization site in the woods of Tilburg, Netherlands (IJpelareweg 55, 5048 TA Tilburg). The festival has used this location since 2019.

Why doesn't Draaimolen work with sponsors?

The festival operates as a fully independent, not-for-profit organization and does not allow branded logos or corporate sponsorship on site. The team has described this as core to keeping the focus on the art, music and nature rather than commercial messaging.

Who curates Draaimolen's stages?

Individual artists and labels design and run entire stages rather than the festival booking one central lineup. Recent examples include Blawan and Pariah at The Pit, Eris Drew and Octo Octa at Forest Rave, and the Bristol label Timedance at Aura.

Is the 2027 edition of Draaimolen confirmed?

Yes. The festival has announced Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11, 2027 at MOB Complex, with early access for 2024, 2025 and 2026 attendees on October 27 and general sale on October 29. The province of North Brabant has allowed the festival to stay on the site for up to three years from late 2025, under conditions on ecology and monitoring.

How do you get to Draaimolen?

Take a train to Tilburg Central Station, where the festival runs shuttle buses to the site between 12:00 and 19:00 and back from 21:00 to 01:30. You can also cycle in around 25 minutes on a marked route, or use taxis and ride-hailing at the designated drop-off points.

What is the age limit at Draaimolen?

Draaimolen is an 18+ event, and the festival says ID may be checked at the entrance. Tickets are not tied to names, but the age rule still applies to whoever uses them.

Where can you stay for Draaimolen?

The festival runs an official campsite at Quirijnstokstraat 15 in Tilburg, about a 10 minute bike ride from the site, with camping tickets sold separately. Hotels and hostels in Tilburg are the alternative, and the festival advises booking early because the city is small.

Where do you buy Draaimolen tickets?

Tickets go on sale through the festival's own shop, run by ticketing partner Celebratix, on October 29 at 19:00 CET, after an early access window on October 27 for people who attended in 2024, 2025 or 2026. Tickets cannot be changed or cancelled, but they can be resold through the official platform.

RTS.FM artists connected to this festival

• Batu
• Donato Dozzy
• Fred P
• Spekki Webu

Only sourced appearances at past editions or on announced lineups are listed.