Rewire is honoured to receive the IJzeren Podiumdier for Festival Programme of the Year for Rewire 2025, the festival’s 14th edition, held from 3 to 6 April 2025 across 20+ venues in The Hague. The award, a peer-to-peer recognition from the Dutch live music sector, celebrates the programme’s curatorial approach and commitment to adventurous, experimental music.

According to the IJzeren Podiumdieren jury:
“This festival programme succeeded in sharply capturing the spirit of the moment, responding to it with both boldness and precision. Without losing itself to hype or spectacle. Through a distinctive curatorial vision, with room for experiment and attention to context, the programme challenged, deepened, and remained accessible at the same time.”

Bronne Keesmaat (Rewire’s Director and Music Curator):
“We are honored to receive this award. The programme of Rewire 2025 did not come together easily, but in the end, we created a programme we are truly proud of — and it is wonderful to see that this has not gone unnoticed. I would like to thank my fellow programmers, Katía Truijen (Context Curator), Zoe Besuyen (Education & Outreach), Yannick Güldner (Co-curator Proximity Music), and Gerben de Louw (Film Curator) for their essential contributions in broadening and deepening the programme, which contributed to its success. And, of course, a big thank you to the rest of our wonderful team, who also played a crucial role in bringing the programme to life. I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to our (funding) partners, volunteers, and of course to our attentive audience — and last but certainly not least to the artists, musicians, and makers who continue to surprise us with their imagination.”

Alongside Rewire, PAARD – the city’s main pop venue and a longtime festival partner – was recognised for Venue Programme of the Year, and Possibilize, in collaboration with Rewire through the Superkracht project, received a prize for Diversity & Inclusion, for their work making venues more inclusive and accessible.

About IJzeren Podiumdieren
The IJzeren Podiumdieren have been awarded annually since 1997 by the VNPF (Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia en Festivals). They recognise outstanding achievements across programming, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and marketing in the Dutch live music sector. Winners are selected by members of the sector, and the awards ceremony is organised in collaboration with ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) and Spot/De Oosterpoort.

Photos by Alex Heuvink