Awakenings 2027: getting to the site at Hilvarenbeek
The first thing to settle is where you are going, because the name causes more travel mistakes than any other festival in this guide. The main Awakenings festival is at Hilvarenbeek, in North Brabant, near Tilburg. It is not in Amsterdam. The smaller Upclose edition in May is the one held outside Amsterdam, and a lot of advice still circulating online confuses the two. They are more than a hundred kilometres apart.
Hilvarenbeek itself is not well served by public transport, so almost everyone converges on the same place: Tilburg station, about fifteen kilometres away, with the organiser's shuttle buses running from there for the whole duration of the festival. When you come out of the station, take the north exit and turn left — the buses leave from Burgemeester Brokxlaan.
Three shuttles, not one
This is the part that catches people out. There is not a single bus to "the festival". There are three, going to three different places: the festival entrance, the Grand Camping, and the Comfort Camping. Getting on the wrong one does not put you slightly off target; it puts you at a different gate on a different road.
Which one you want depends on your ticket, and so does the gate. The festival has a north entrance and a south entrance, the campings have their own entrances to the east and south, and the resort accommodation has a separate entrance again on Tilburgseweg. Your ticket names the entrance. Read it before you board, not when you arrive.
One more wrinkle worth knowing: the shuttle does not always stop in the same place. On the middle days it runs to the north entrance, but on the first and last days it uses a stop to the south-west of the festival and campsite instead, on Kommerstraat.
Getting home is the harder half
Everyone leaves at once, and the organiser is explicit that moving that many people by bus takes a while. Add the time to collect your things from the lockers and walk to the stop, then check when the last train out of Tilburg actually departs. If you are staying to the end, consider basing yourself in Tilburg rather than Amsterdam — it is fifteen kilometres away instead of a hundred, and it turns a two-and-a-half hour journey into a twenty-minute one.
- Transport line
- Area
- Venue
- Entrance
- Landmark
What is where
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Tilburg Station
Area
The nearest rail hub, about fifteen kilometres away. Leave by the north exit and turn left for the buses, on Burgemeester Brokxlaan.
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Shuttle to the festival
Transport line
Roughly a twenty-minute drive. Buy the return ticket in advance to skip the kiosk queue.
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Shuttle to Grand Camping
Transport line
A separate bus from the same platform. Take this one only if your ticket is for the Grand Camping.
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Shuttle to Comfort Camping
Transport line
The third bus, and a different gate again on the east side of the site.
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Festival grounds
Venue
Beekse Bergen, Hilvarenbeek. The stage layout inside changes every edition and is not shown here.
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1. Entrance North
Entrance
Beekse Bergen. Where the shuttle drops you on the middle days, and the way in for the Libema cottages too.
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2. Entrance South
Entrance
Leisenweg. The same road serves the Grand Camping entrance.
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3. Camping Entrance East
Entrance
Veldbraken. For the Comfort Camping only.
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4. First and last day shuttle stop
Landmark
Kommerstraat, south-west of the festival and the campsite. Used instead of the north entrance on the opening and closing days.
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Grand Camping
Area
Bring your own tent, pre-pitched tents and the cottages. Entered from Leisenweg to the south.
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Comfort Camping
Area
Reached from Veldbraken, on the east side.
Entrances, addresses and shuttle structure as published by the organiser for the most recent edition at this site. Shuttle times and prices change every year, so check the official travel page before you book. Layouts change between editions. Check the organiser's own map before you travel.