Roskilde Festival is an annual music and arts festival held south of the city of Roskilde, Denmark, on a sprawling site known as Dyrskuepladsen. Founded in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, alongside promoter Carl Fischer, the event began as a modest two-day gathering that drew roughly 10,000 to 13,000 attendees. Since 1972 it has been run entirely as a nonprofit by the Roskilde Foundation, with every krone of profit funneled into music, culture, and humanitarian causes.
Today Roskilde ranks among the largest music festivals in Europe and the biggest in the Nordic countries, welcoming more than 130,000 participants across a week-long run each summer. Its programming spans rock, pop, hip hop, electronic, metal, punk, and world music across seven stages, anchored by the iconic Orange Stage, whose tent was acquired secondhand from Rolling Stones touring equipment in 1978. The festival is also remembered for a somber chapter: a fatal crowd crush during Pearl Jam’s 2000 set killed nine attendees, an event that reshaped crowd-safety standards at festivals across Europe.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Roskilde, Denmark (Dyrskuepladsen site)
- Type: Multi-day nonprofit music and arts festival
- Opened: 1971
- Capacity: Over 130,000 total participants; about 87,000 unique daily visitors
- Stages: Seven stages, including Orange Scene, Arena, and Eos
- Famous for: The Orange Stage and its 1971 founding as a nonprofit run by volunteers
The Festival Experience
Roskilde Festival unfolds over roughly a week each late June or early July, with the first days reserved for warm-up concerts and camping before the main program begins. Across its seven stages, the festival mixes globally known headliners with emerging acts across genres from hip hop to heavy metal, all staged on a festival area of about 2.5 million square meters that includes campgrounds housing an estimated 50,000 tents.
The event runs almost entirely on volunteer power, with around 27,000 volunteers handling everything from stage logistics to campsite operations each year. That structure, paired with the festival’s nonprofit charter, has allowed the Roskilde Foundation to donate hundreds of millions of Danish kroner to cultural and humanitarian organizations since the festival’s founding.
History and Legacy
What started in 1971 as a small “Sound Festival” grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, gaining its signature Orange Stage tent in 1978. By the 1990s Roskilde had become a fixture of the European festival circuit, adding a dedicated train station in 1995 to handle the swelling crowds of visitors arriving by rail.
The festival’s history includes a tragic turning point in 2000, when a crowd crush during Pearl Jam’s performance killed nine people. In the aftermath, Roskilde overhauled its crowd-management and safety protocols, changes that influenced festival safety practices well beyond Denmark and remain part of how the event is run today.
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Roskilde Festival FAQs
When was Roskilde Festival founded?
Roskilde Festival was founded in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, along with promoter Carl Fischer.
How many people attend Roskilde Festival?
The festival draws over 130,000 total participants each year, with about 87,000 unique visitors on any given day, making it one of the largest music festivals in Europe.
Is Roskilde Festival a nonprofit?
Yes. Roskilde Festival has been organized as a nonprofit by the Roskilde Foundation since 1972, donating all profits to music, culture, and humanitarian initiatives.
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Photo: Bill Ebbesen / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.