During an interview with De Machine, Wouter Tavecchio, the founder of Q-dance, explained why the company is canceling many of its events.
For nearly 25 years, Q-dance has delivered the highest-quality events in hard dance music. Known for their stellar production and unmatched experience, Q-dance has touched nearly every genre of the harder styles including hardstyle, hardcore, old-school, and everything in between. The world’s premier harder styles promoter has been canceling many fan-favorite events like The Qontinent, Qapital, X-Qlusive, and most recently, Qlimax. All of these cancelations have left fans to wonder why many iconic events are ending after decades-long runs.
Numerous online rumors and speculations have surfaced from the community, blaming the brand’s parent company, Superstruct Entertainment, and even the global investment firm KKR, which acquired Superstruct in 2024. The founder of Q-dance, Wouter Tavecchio, put all rumors to rest during an interview with Dutch podcast De Machine. “A lot of things are changing, and this is one of those years where everything comes together,” he shared.
The cancelation of Qlimax, Q-dance’s long-standing festival in The Netherlands, was “a bit painful” to Wouter but the decision wasn’t made overnight. He cited the increase in the cost of pulling off massive festivals as the main reason fans see these cancelations. “The most important thing is that Q-dance is a creative company,” he shared. “We know that VAT will increase from 9% to 21% in a year and a half. That means a 12% increase in costs. Since corona, this has already increased enormously.”
According to Wouter, “Everything has become much more expensive,” but he shares the same mentality as ID&T founder Duncan Stutterheim, who believed that a ticket’s price should cost about the same as a day’s work. Rising production costs mean that the profit needs to come from a different place, which either falls on paying artists less or charging fans more.
Q-dance has historically been a force to be reckoned with as a stage host at Mysteryland but was notably absent this year. According to Wouter, the brand “became too dominant at the party,” and the festival wanted to move in a new direction.
Luckily, there is a silver lining in the chaos as Defqon.1 Weekend Festival continues to be Q-dance’s most successful event of the year. “With Defqon.1, we can go in all directions creatively,” he said. “Nowhere else will you find such a large festival where visitors come together multiple times during the weekend.” In 2025, Defqon.1 celebrates its 25th anniversary, and Wouter promises that fans will notice as they plan to celebrate in style.
While the scene’s current state is unfortunate for hard dance lovers, Wouter assured fans that Q-dance is doing well, is still motivated, and has ambitions to organize other experiences. That also doesn’t mean that these events have to end without a bang. Make sure to snag a ticket to Qlimax The Final Prophecy, and be a part of history as the prophecy comes to fulfillment at the GelreDome in The Netherlands.
The general sale for Qlimax The Final Prophecy starts on August 31 at 13:00 CEST (4:00 AM PT). DEDIQATED members, however, can order their tickets right now. Register now at the Q-dance website to secure access to the general sale.
h/t: Hard News