Lowlands 2026 can be followed live from home via NPO Start, 3FM and FunX

Lowlands 2026 kicks off in Biddinghuizen from August 21 to 23, and if you can't make it in person you still won't have to miss a thing. NPO is putting together an extensive media package so that anyone staying home can experience the full festival weekend, from the first performances on Friday afternoon through to the final late night programming on Sunday.

The heart of the at home experience is a 24/7 livestream on NPO Start and 3voor12, starting August 21 at 4pm and running through to Monday August 24. The stream is hosted by Vera Siemons, Eva Cleven and Jamie Reuter and will feature performances from the various stages, artist interviews and footage of the festival grounds. There will also be special coverage of the theatre and literature programme, presented by Rachel Pouwer from NPO Cultuur. Every evening the day's highlights will air on NPO 3 from 8:30pm. After the festival wraps up, the best shows will be repeated on NPO 2 Extra, running from Sunday evening at 11pm through to Tuesday evening at 8pm.

The livestream schedule includes Antoon, Kneecap and Parcels on Friday, with Jose González, S10, Major Lazer and Eefje De Visser among the Saturday highlights. Sunday brings names like Hermanos Gutierrez, Celeste and Maribou State. Headliners Tyler, the Creator and Lorde are also on the bill, with Lorde closing out the Alpha stage on Sunday. Dutch hip hop collective New Wave performs on Friday evening as one of the standout acts of the night.

On 3FM, live music will be broadcast every festival evening from 7pm to midnight. Mark van der Molen, Andres Odijk and Sebastiaan Ockhuysen will present the concerts from the studio, while Jasper Leijdens and Andres Odijk report live from the festival site. During the day, 3FM will play the Festival Top 1003, a selection of the greatest festival tracks of all time. FunX is also joining in: Friday evening from 10pm will be all about New Wave, and on Saturday the Hacienda stage will be broadcast live from 9pm to 4am, featuring acts including Festival Macumba soundsystem, Rockafellababe and Lamsi. NPO Luister will be recording podcasts on site, with contributions from among others Jonna Fraser and Sor.

For anyone who'd rather wander around the festival grounds virtually, two festival buddies will be roaming Biddinghuizen all weekend long. Via Twitch and YouTube, viewers can use the chat to help decide where these buddies head next, whether that's headliner shows, art adventures, food spots or the late night programme. The 3voor12 website will have previews, tip lists and reviews, and after the festival all performances can be rewatched on the 3voor12 YouTube channel.

Lowlands turns 34 this year. Music journalists Robert van Gijssel and Els de Grefte recently wrote in de Volkskrant about how the festival grew from its first edition in 1993, held in two tents in Biddinghuizen, into the most important music festival in the Netherlands, with a lineup that consistently reflected the spirit of the times. From The Jesus Lizard and Bad Brains through Jeff Buckley and Radiohead to the dance music of Underworld and The Prodigy, Lowlands was for decades the place to discover what was happening in pop music. According to the two pop critics, the signs for the 2026 edition look promising, as the festival appears to be booking more adventurous acts again after a period of playing it safe.