Willem Venema

Ik heb in de loop der jaren gewerkt als stagemanager bij o.a. AVRO’s Grand Gala Du Disque, KRO’s Rocktempel, VARA’s Popzien, New Pop-Rotterdam, Schuttorf Open-Air (Duitsland), Torhout/Werchter (Belgie), Parkpop-Den Haag (van editie 0 tot heden), Pinkpop tot mijn ontslag bij Live Nation, en Metropolis-Rotterdam.
En ik was (mede-)initiator/oprichter/programmeur van “Pandora’s Music Box” midden jaren tachtig, “Ein Abend In Wien” in 1991 en “A Campingflight To Lowlands Paradise” van 1993 tot eveneens mijn ontslag bij Live Nation. (http://www.wvenema.nl/?p=64#more-64)

"Ik bemoei me met van alles." Zo heeft Venema zich in het verleden bemoeid met artiesten als Herman Brood, Claw Boys Claw, Candy Dulfer, de Heideroosjes en Urban Dance Squad. (http://3voor12.vpro.nl/3voor12/stadskanaal/deskundigen.shtml)

Of course Lowlands is partly modeled after the famous Roskilde Festival in Denmark. But its roots also go back to the hippy days of 1967, when an embryonic indoor version was held in Utrecht. Similar (indoor) pop festivals with theatrical and absurd highlights were held in Rotterdam in the 80s (Pandora’s Music Box) and early 90s (Ein Abend in Wien). Creator of these last two festivals was Willem Venema while working for Holland’s largest agency Mojo. In 1993 Venema initiated the first edition of Lowlands. It attracted nine thousand people. Nowadays around forty to sixty thousand people make the annual pilgrimage to Biddinghuizen. Many buy their tickets even before the programme is announced. For them the unique atmosphere has become a yearly must.
http://www.dutchsound.nl/page.php?pageAlias=dsnl.news&newsId=1430


Article from Oor magazine (1985/20)


Venema amid his record collection on the cover of Robert Haagsma's book Vinylfanaten (Vinyl Freaks), Spectrum, 2006. Find the complete chapter on Venema here: http://www.wvenema.nl/?p=65#more-65