What Apenkooi Events does

Apenkooi Events B.V. is a privately held Dutch festival and event organization headquartered at Isolatorweg 36, Amsterdam, founded in 2004 as a club event for friends and grown into one of the larger festival operators in the Netherlands. The company operates a portfolio of 12 festival brands, including flagship IP DGTL (founded 2013, sustainability-focused electronic music), STRAF_WERK (house music, debuted 2011), Pleinvrees (melodic/deep house, since 2010), By The Creek (launched 2016), Amsterdam Open Air, The Gardens of Babylon (launched October 2016), Valhalla, and Elrow Amsterdam, alongside approximately 25 annual club events. In parallel, Apenkooi operates Playground, a wholly-owned brand activation agency providing 360-degree concept, production, and execution services to A-brand clients including Heineken, Desperados, Jillz, Smirnoff, and McDonalds. Apenkooi is a subsidiary of the ID&T Group and runs its own in-house marketing, programming, and production functions with a team of roughly 20-50 employees.

The company's underlying technology layer centers on an RFID cashless payment system deployed at scale across its events, in which Apenkooi was an early Dutch adopter. This infrastructure serves an operational role (faster entry and on-site transactions) and a secondary data role, capturing consumer behavior that can inform programming, sponsor targeting, and operational decisions. Combined with marketing, programming, and production kept in-house, this stack supports a vertically integrated festival production model rather than a software platform business.

Apenkooi generates revenue through two streams: consumer ticket sales across its 12 festival brands and 25 annual club events (reaching approximately 350,000-400,000 visitors per year), and professional services revenue through Playground's brand activation work for large CPG and QSR clients. Distribution is direct-to-consumer for ticketing (via individual festival websites and the Apenkoooi corporate site) and direct-sales/B2B for activation engagements, with festival brands distributed internationally across the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Israel, India, Mexico, Peru, and Chile.

Name

Apenkooi Events

Legal name

Apenkooi Events B.V.

Website

https://apenkooi.amsterdam

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Apenkooi Events is a Dutch festival and event organizer based in Amsterdam operating 12 festival brands and 25 annual club events reaching roughly 350,000-400,000 visitors, serving electronic music fans internationally and A-brands through its in-house Playground brand activation agency.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Festival and Event Organization

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sponsorship, Exhibitor & Partnership Management Services (THAHACAK)

Keywords

• Festival event management
• Music festival organization
• Brand activation services
• Event production services
• Club event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Festival Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from selling tickets to festival events including DGTL, STRAF_WERK, Pleinvrees, By The Creek, Amsterdam Open Air, and The Gardens of Babylon. The company hosts approximately 350,000-400,000 visitors annually across 12 festival brands and 25 club events.
2. Brand Activation Services (Playground): Playground Brand Activation agency provides 360-degree brand activation services to A-brands including concept creation, production, and execution. Clients include Heineken, Desperados, Jillz, Smirnoff, McDonalds, and many more.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Apenkooi Events is a Dutch festival and event organizer that produces a portfolio of 12 electronic-music festival brands (including DGTL, STRAF_WERK, Pleinvrees, By The Creek, Amsterdam Open Air, and The Gardens of Babylon) plus roughly 25 annual club events, hosting approximately 350,000–400,000 visitors per year. Through its in-house Playground Brand Activation agency, the company also delivers 360-degree brand activation services — concept creation, production, and execution — to A-brand clients such as Heineken, Desperados, Jillz, Smirnoff, and McDonalds.

Product overview

Apenkooi Events is a Dutch festival and event organization that operates a portfolio of 6 festival brands (DGTL, STRAF_WERK, Pleinvrees, By The Creek, Amsterdam Open Air, The Gardens of Babylon) and manages approximately 25 annual club events, welcoming around 400,000 visitors annually. The company also operates Playground, a brand activation agency sub-brand that provides 360-degree activation services for A-brands. The organization has its own marketing, program, and production departments operating in-house.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DGTL: Festival of the next generation where music meets art, sustainability and innovations. Founded in 2013, expanded globally to Spain, Chile, Brazil, India, and Mexico.
• STRAF_WERK
• Pleinvrees
• By the Creek
• Amsterdam Open Air
• The Gardens of Babylon
• Valhalla
• Elrow Amsterdam
• Playground Brand Activation

Products and services

• DGTL
• STRAF_WERK
• Pleinvrees
• By The Creek
• Amsterdam Open Air
• The Gardens of Babylon Movement-led community organizing full-experience events combining music, meditation and visual dream effects, including the four-day Monastery Festival at Kloster Graefenthal.
• Playground Brand Activation In-house brand activation agency that provides 360-degree services — concept creation, production, execution, brand event productions, promotion, field marketing, and hospitality & trade activations — for A-brand clients including Heineken, Desperados, Jillz, Smirnoff, and McDonalds.

Quantifiable outcome

• RFID cashless payment system provides valuable consumer insights data
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Green Deal (Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerApenkooi Events is proud to be part of the 'Green Deal' which is an agreement between event organisations and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. This agreement describes the common goal to organise waste free festivals in the near future. DGTL's Revolution program exemplifies their sustainability efforts.
• ID&T GroupcoreOthersApenkooi Events is part of the ID&T group, one of the largest festival organizations in the Netherlands. The parent company's ambition and expansion drive has led to worldwide campaign and international events.
• Playground Brand ActivationcoreOthersPlayground is a brand activation agency that is part of Apenkooi Events. Starting as an agency specializing in connecting A-brands with target groups through 360 degree brand activations, covering concept creation, production, and execution.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Time Warp: Time Warp is a leading European techno and electronic music event organizer headquartered in Germany with editions across Europe, South America, and beyond. Directly comparable to Apenkooi on event format (large-scale techno festivals), international expansion model, and target attendee base.
• Pitch Music & Arts: Pitch Music & Arts is an Australian electronic music festival that has expanded internationally with editions in South Africa and Europe. Comparable to Apenkooi on boutique electronic music festival positioning, focus on curated attendee experience, and brand-extension strategy across continents.
• Cream Events: Cream is a long-standing UK dance music promoter and club brand running Creamfields and other electronic music events. Comparable to Apenkooi as a heritage electronic music festival organizer with multiple international brand extensions and year-round event programming.
• Awakenings: Awakenings is one of the largest electronic music festival organizers in the Netherlands, producing flagship techno events and year-round club programming. Directly comparable to Apenkooi on geography (NL), target audience (electronic music enthusiasts), and product (multi-day festival events at industrial venues).
• Q-dance: Q-dance is a Dutch dance music event organizer specializing in hardstyle and harder dance styles, running Defqon.1, Qlimax, and other major festivals. Comparable to Apenkooi on the electronic music festival format, Dutch home base, and festival brand portfolio strategy.

Broad incumbents

• AEG Presents: AEG Presents is a major global live entertainment promoter and venue operator running Coachella, festivals, and concerts worldwide. Comparable to Apenkooi on operating large-scale music festivals internationally, but as a broad incumbent across many genres and geographies rather than electronic music specialization.
• ID&T Group: ID&T Group is the Dutch parent company of Apenkooi Events and one of the largest festival organizations in the Netherlands, running flagship brands like Mysteryland and Tomorrowland (via joint venture). Listed here as a broad incumbent / parent that operates comparable electronic music festivals and provides shared infrastructure, IP, and capital backing.
• Live Nation Netherlands: Live Nation is the world's largest live entertainment company, operating festivals, concerts, and ticketing infrastructure globally. Comparable to Apenkooi as a broad incumbent operating in the same overall live music / festival category in the Netherlands and across Europe, though Live Nation covers a much wider portfolio beyond electronic music.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/apenkooi
• Facebookfacebook.com/apenkooi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/apenkooi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Apenkooi Events