The boys decided it was time to make a change! To start something new and try and revive their group! So they sat together and discussed for many days about how to go about. Afterwards they decided to throw a party. Not just any party, but more like a festival that would make them shine like a true Antwerp Diamond.

Fast-forward to 6 years later. The youth group has expanded beyond imagination and the festival is now a humongous success.  The first year only 350 people attended and it was just a small gathering on their own terrain, but it grew and now they can expect over 5000 people and it will be hosted at the Konijnenwei.

The festival itself is made possible by a lot of volunteers that help out every year and most of these volunteers have decided that they wanted to be part of the youth movement as well. So the initial plan of getting more members to expand their group actually worked. The core group are still the founding members and they meet up every month to discuss practical items. One of the things they decided upon was opening the stage for local talent from Antwerp. They host a competition every year for bands from our city and the winners get the opportunity to play at a big festival with a large audience.

This year the free (!) festival will take place the 6th of May at the Konijnenwei, there will be lots of artists and side animation such as a photo booth, stick on tattoos, henna, a climbing wall, bouncy castle, grime and storytelling.

I personally can’t wait to be part of this piece of Antwerp history in the making, a meeting between like-minded souls where everyone is welcome and everyone is bound to have a great time!

See you all there!