Verknipt hosts 40,000-strong crowd in Amsterdam for "biggest hard techno event ever"

One of the world’s leading techno promoters, Verknipt, hosted what may be the “biggest hard techno event ever” this weekend.

On Saturday (July 20) the Verknipt ArenA party welcomed over 40,000 techno ravers to Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena, for an 11-and-a-half-hour rave from 20:30PM - 08:00 AM.

On the bill were many hard techno stalwarts, with an opening b3b from Cynthia Spiering, Franky-B and Ketting setting the tempo.

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Other notable sets included Shlømo who launched his new track ‘Meet Me In São Paulo’, Sara Landry whose thumping bangers kept the energy high, and DIØN who dropped his forthcoming rework of ‘Traffic’.

The night also saw sets played by Onlynumbers, CARV, Basswell, Alignment, DYEN, Oguz, 6ejou, Raxeller and KARAH, as well as a high-energy closing set from Fantasm.

The event highlighted the incredible growth of hard techno as a genre, with the once niché electronic music sub-genre now shown to be capable of captivating entire stadiums.

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Organisers Verknipt ArenA are now celebrating the event by launching an exclusive Verknipt ArenA album by Verknipt Records and Be Yourself Music.

The album is being released to “commemorate the world’s biggest hard techno rave and showcase both established names and rising stars in the scene.”

Verknipt Records founder Mer Hajbarati said on the project: “This album not only showcases the immense talent of our contributing artists but also embodies the energy and spirit of this landmark event.”

Jamaal Johnson is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Instagram