Kraft Events

The Story Behind KRAFT Premium Pounding Techno, Amsterdam KRAFT never started with the ambition to become a major event organization. There was no business plan and no carefully developed growth strategy. It began with two people, a group of friends, a huge love for techno, and the idea that a good party could perhaps be just that little bit different. And in fact, it all began in a rather unlikely place. Fuck It, Let's Dance In the middle of the coronavirus period in June 2020, Linda and Erik Jan van Zanten organized their first party under the fitting name Fuck It Let's Dance. The location? A playground in Baarn. At a time when almost nothing was possible and everyone was longing for music, contact, and simply dancing together again, that small party turned out to be exactly what people needed. A second Fuck It Let's Dance followed at the Recycle Lounge Gallery Club in Amsterdam. When the world slowly started opening up again in 2022, Linda and Erik Jan decided to continue. Good friend Peter van Straaten came up with the name and logo that would carry the concept from that moment on: KRAFT Premium Pounding Techno. The first official KRAFT took place on 19 March 2022. From 16:00 to 23:00. Today that may no longer sound particularly unusual. Daytime raves and early-evening events can now be found everywhere. But in 2022, the techno world club scene looked at that very differently. Techno belonged at night. A rave started late. And going home at 23:00? Figuratively speaking, that was when you were supposed to be arriving. Linda and Erik Jan were therefore regularly told that techno and daytime raving did not go together. But they believed precisely in that combination. Not because they thought they were starting a trend, but because they experienced for themselves how well it worked. Starting at four in the afternoon, losing yourself completely in the music for seven hours, giving everything on the dance floor, and being home around midnight. After all, the intensity of a rave does not disappear just because the sun is still shining outside. So they stuck with it. Leading the way without that ever being the plan Looking back, KRAFT was early with a combination that is becoming increasingly common today: Peak Time Techno, starting early and ending early, a mature audience, a strong community, and free hospitality that goes beyond just a bar and cloakroom. KRAFT did not invent daytime raving and will never claim that it did. But within the Dutch Peak Time Techno scene, from 2022 onward it was among the frontrunners bringing precisely these elements together in a small-scale indoor club concept. Today, more and more techno events are emerging that start earlier, focus on a mature audience, and pay a great deal of attention to community and hospitality. For Linda and Erik Jan, that is mainly wonderful to see. Where in the beginning they still regularly had to explain why on earth a techno event started at 16:00, today that hardly needs explaining to anyone anymore. Not harder. But KRAFT. One thing has hardly changed in the meantime: the music. KRAFT stands for Peak Time Techno. Solid, energetic, driving, and danceable. Not automatically harder or faster just because the trend demands it. Linda and Erik Jan fell in love with this style of techno and want to keep giving precisely that sound a stage. Erik Jan safeguards the musical direction. He searches for the artists, endlessly listens to sets and releases, and builds every line-up so that a KRAFT edition forms one musical story from beginning to end. He also plays behind the decks at every edition as TheKoosy. A big name on a poster is never enough. An artist has to fit the music, the audience, and the energy of KRAFT. Because ultimately, that is what it is about: the music and the dance floor. And at KRAFT, that dance floor often fills up remarkably quickly. High-quality, but never distant That personal character does not mean compromises are made on quality. Quite the opposite. KRAFT wants to create a high-quality techno event. The artists are carefully selected, the musical build-up is safeguarded, and the lighting, sound, and production have to be right. The raw, industrial locations are also deliberately chosen because they are part of the experience. But as far as Linda and Erik Jan are concerned, high-quality never has to mean distant. No VIP feeling where one visitor is more important than another. No event that is only about a major artist name on a poster. Everyone who walks through the door belongs. The same applies to something seemingly small, such as the photos published after an edition. Linda and Erik Jan now know many visitors personally and also know, for example, who would rather not appear recognizably on social media because of work, private circumstances, or simply personal preference. A photo may be beautiful, but if they know someone would not be happy with it, it will not be posted. That is possible precisely because KRAFT consciously remains relatively small. Visitors are not anonymous ticket numbers. Over the years, many people have gained a name and a face. For KRAFT, quality is therefore not only about a good DJ, a powerful sound system, or beautiful lighting. Quality is also in how you treat people. It started with a popsicle and banana... At Fuck It Let's Dance, free rocket popsicles and pear ice lollies were handed out to the crowd in the middle of the evening, and the first Banana Bar appeared. The idea was actually very simple: people are dancing for hours, so why not just give them something free to regain some energy? The popcicles and bananas stayed, but as often happens at KRAFT, it then got a little out of hand. Grapes and mandarins were added. Candy. Mini ducks, KRAFT wristbands, temporary tattoos, and all kinds of small surprises. And with that, almost unnoticed, something emerged that has now become almost as much a part of KRAFT as the music itself. The giveaway girl. Not a hired promotion team, but a dear friend. It genuinely makes her happy to walk through the crowd with her box full of small gifts. You can choose: a mini duck, a wristband, a KRAFT temporary tattoo, or a quote from a little box she came up with and wrote those quotes herself. They are small things. But sometimes a plastic duck is enough to make a complete stranger smile broadly in the middle of a dark techno dance floor. The friends behind KRAFT The involvement of friends goes far beyond what visitors see during the event. From the very beginning, there has been a group of friends who believed in Linda and Erik Jan's idea and who are ready to help at every edition. Selflessly and unconditionally. Before the doors open, they build, carry, and set everything up together. During the event, they hand out popsicles and giveaways, sell fans, and help wherever needed. And when the last record has played and the visitors are already on their way home, those same friends are there again to dismantle everything together. Nobody has to do it. They do it because KRAFT has also become a little bit theirs. Perhaps that is why the KRAFT community does not even begin on the dance floor. It began with the people who stood behind the event from the very first moment. The KRAFT virus By now, at least as much love comes from the other side of the DJ booth. Many visitors return for every edition. People recognize each other, friendships are formed, and new visitors are welcomed into the group surprisingly quickly. And the beautiful thing is this: visitors have started adding things to KRAFT themselves. Some make KRAFT wristbands at home, for example, and hand them out spontaneously to other visitors during an edition. One visitor even had stickers printed on their own initiative with the words: KRAFT VIRUS. Because within the community, a well-known saying has emerged: “Once you are infected with the KRAFT virus, you never get rid of it.” With a big wink, of course. Although some take that virus quite seriously: during the tenth edition, a KRAFT regular from the very beginning even got a real KRAFT tattoo. You can hardly make your love for a techno event more permanent than that. But there is also something special behind it. Nobody in the organization decided that visitors should make wristbands. Nobody asked anyone to have KRAFT VIRUS stickers printed, and certainly not to get a tattoo. People do it themselves because they feel part of the community. And with that, over the years KRAFT has become something that Linda and Erik Jan could never have created or even dreamed of on their own; a part of KRAFT is now created by the visitors themselves. Everyone belongs That may well be the most important principle of KRAFT: everyone should feel welcome. It does not matter who you are, what you look like, who you come with, or how long you have been listening to techno. People should be able to walk in and feel that they belong. You are allowed to be yourself. Visitors look out for each other. When someone is not feeling well, someone is often already standing next to them before help even needs to be asked for. People make contact, pay attention to those around them, and many visitors now know each other from previous editions. That creates something Linda and Erik Jan may value even more than a sold-out event: people feel safe at KRAFT. Warm and personal beside the dance floor. Intense and energetic once the music begins. The audience is predominantly mature. Many visitors are 40-plus, have experienced plenty of clubs and raves, and no longer need to be convinced of techno. They also do not come just for one big name on the poster. They come to dance. And above all: they come back. You can feel when something is made with love Perhaps that is ultimately the hardest part of KRAFT to explain. One edition contains countless hours. Months of work on artists, music, production, decoration, social media, technology, and hundreds of small details most visitors will never know someone thought about. Linda mainly focuses on the creative side, atmosphere, styling, community, and contact with visitors and artists. Erik Jan is involved, alongside the musical programming, with technology, lighting, sound, and the business side. But in the end, they do almost everything together. Not because KRAFT is their job. Precisely because it is not. Linda and Erik Jan both have their own jobs, and KRAFT is their shared passion project. It does not have to grow into a huge event company. They do not want to organize KRAFT somewhere every weekend, nor do they want to become bigger at any cost. If it were only about numbers, revenue, and growth, exactly the thing that makes KRAFT so enjoyable, would probably disappear. And visitors feel that. They feel that the people behind the event are just as happy to be there themselves. That the ice cream girls are not walking around because someone in a marketing meeting decided free ice cream was good for the brand. That someone actually sat at home writing little quotes. That a DJ is booked because his or her music fits KRAFT wonderfully, and not just because the name sells tickets. KRAFT is organized out of love for techno and for the people who come to it. And perhaps that is precisely why such a close and loyal community has emerged. Big enough to stay small KRAFT organizes four to six events a year at two raw industrial locations in Amsterdam. 1. At Lagerwal Noord, a former shipyard, around 350 visitors come together. 2. The larger editions take place at Levenslang, the former Bijlmerbajes prison, with room for around 750 people. The difference in capacity is significant, but the principle remains the same. Even with 750 visitors, KRAFT should still feel personal. Perhaps that is a greater challenge than simply selling more tickets. ADE: a new chapter In 2026, a chapter will be added that Linda and Erik Jan, during that first little party in a playground, probably never imagined they would one day say. Amsterdam Dance Event. On Saturday 24 October 2026, KRAFT will organize its own ADE event at Lagerwal Noord for the first time. From 15:00 to 23:00, with exactly the Peak Time Techno the concept stands for. In addition, on Wednesday 21 October, KRAFT will be part of an international label collaboration on the Veronica Ship, together with Mainground Music, Berlin Records, TRAGEDIE, and ALIGN CNTRL. Not bad for something that once began with Fuck It Let's Dance in a playground. And then suddenly we are going outside In 2027, something new will follow again. On King's Day, KRAFT will have access at Lagerwal/Helling 7 to the indoor space, the outdoor area, and the upper terrace. For the first time, this creates space for its own mini-festival for around 1,000 visitors. Considerably larger than that first KRAFT. But the most important question Linda and Erik Jan ask themselves is actually still exactly the same as with 350 people: How do we make sure everyone continues to feel part of KRAFT? Because ultimately, it is not about how big a party can become. It is about what happens once the doors open. A full dance floor. Peak Time Techno. Familiar faces embracing each other. A newcomer who, within an hour, feels as if they have been coming for years. A friend who quickly fixes something behind the scenes. An ice cream girl squeezing through the dance floor with a tray of rocket popsicles. Someone putting a handmade KRAFT wristband around the wrist of a complete stranger. And somewhere, someone is deeply seriously trying to decide between a KRAFT tattoo and a plastic duck. That is hard to put into a business plan. But it is the story behind KRAFT. Because as long as the love for techno, the people, and that special feeling on the dance floor are there, KRAFT will remain exactly what it is meant to be.