A crowd of 66,000 attended the first full day of Pukkelpop on Friday, where headliner Yungblud, performing in a wheelchair with a broken leg, drew huge crowds to the Main Stage just before midnight.
The festival had already welcomed 55,000 people on Thursday, when only part of the site was open, but numbers rose further on Friday as music fans filled the grounds in Kiewit.
Yungblud’s appearance marked another chapter in his long connection with Pukkelpop. Fourteen years ago, the British singer first performed at the festival as a 15-year-old, and after also playing the Main Stage three years ago, he returned this time as the headline act.
He performed in a wheelchair after breaking his leg last week, leaving him to complete his final two shows in Portugal and Kiewit with his leg in plaster.
Despite his limited mobility, Yungblud had little trouble energising the crowd. Pushed across the stage by a nurse dressed in leather, he even managed to crowd-surf in his wheelchair during Fleabag.
Earlier in the evening, Turnstile had also packed out the area in front of the Main Stage. The band sparked several mosh pits as fans threw themselves into the group’s mix of hardcore punk and alternative rock.
Attention now turns to Saturday, when Florence and the Machine and Deftones will see whether they can draw a similarly large audience to the Main Stage.
The festival’s third day will begin with Average Rob, who is leading around 500 festivalgoers on his Turbo Social Run, a morning jog of about five kilometres across the still-quiet site.
Musically, The Atomic Orchestra will open proceedings in the Marquee, while Kids With Buns will be first on the Main Stage. Used, Wet Leg and New Wave are also on the bill there, before Deftones and Florence and the Machine bring the day to a close.
