From a “passionate” story about vinyl plastic pellets to a record fair and free live music, Haarlem Vinyl Festival launches its second annual festival on Friday.

The world’s first multi-day festival dedicated to vinyl culture includes a conference, performances, photographic exhibition and tours of Record Industry – a pressing plant in Haarlem that expects to turn out eight million records this year.

Anouk Rijnders, co-founder of Haarlem Vinyl Festival and chief commercial officer of Record Industry, said the festival is for everyone from vinyl obsessives to everyday music lovers.

“The popularity of vinyl has grown in the last year,” she said. “There’s a lot more consumers going to the record stores, especially women, because they buy Billy Eilish, Taylor Swift, they’re into the K-pop, and those are the new visitors of the record stores. They probably experience their vinyl collection in a totally different way to how 50, 60 and 70 year old people do, who have their collection from the childhood. It’s about cherishing what you have.”

She said that vinyl, which experienced a boom in popularity during the pandemic, is a mindful experience for many people. “You give yourself some time off when you listen to a record,” she said. “It’s the whole thing about choosing a record from your collection, taking the record out of the sleeve, admiring the sleeve, consciously putting the record on the turntable, putting the needle on, sitting down. It’s an experience, an emotional thing:  you’re attached to the records you have.”

The festival, whose director Richard Zijlma successfully grew the Amsterdam Dance Event, aims to increase visitor numbers to some 25,000 this year, with 35 venues, 200 performers and 100 speakers. Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree will record an episode of his podcast with singer-songwriter Tim Bowness live on stage. Photographer Claude Vanheye presents an exhibition of his vinyl and LP cover works, and Rinus Gerritsun of Golden Earring will be at a talk and signing session. There are paid gigs and free music on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

“Vinyl culture is about art, coming together and enjoying music,” said Rijnders. “You don’t need to have a vinyl collection to enjoy the festival!”

Haarlem Vinyl Festival runs from September 27-29 2024