Hey guys,

So, slowly but gradually the European summer festivals are making their first announcements for the 2012 season. So is Pinkpop, a major festival in the Netherlands. Each year the organisation ask potential visitors to vote for their favourite band - which might just lead to the festival booking them. And I'd hereby like to ask you to vote for The Sounds!

What is Pinkpop?

Pinkpop is the oldest festival in Europe and it's also one of the continent's biggest festivals, this time held at 26-27-28 May 2012. Each year the organisation book about 40 acts, ranging from local bands to big names such as Foo Fighters. The festival is situated in the south of the Netherlands, near the German and Belgian borders. The festival annually attracts an estimated 60.000 visitors from all over the world, making the festival a great place for both known and relatively unknown bands to show people what they've got.

"Gouden Tip"

The past few years, Pinkpop have continuously created a competition called "Gouden Tip", or "Golden Tip". Through this competition, they ask people to hand in a list of three bands they'd like to see perform during the next edition of the festival. The organisation use this list to help them decide which bands to book. It's not necessarily a case of "the more votes the bigger the chances", but voting is still of high importance if you want to make sure your favourite band get to play there. Additionally, if you vote, you will automatically be entered in a competition through which you can win a pair of weekend tickets for the festival!

Let's vote The Sounds!

I've been voting for The Sounds for years, but so far it didn't help. So this year, I'm going to need the help of all Soundsies! :) Here's how it works:

1. Go to http://www.pinkpop.nl/2012/gouden-tip/ (Unfortunately, it seems there's no English version of the website)
2. Fill in "The Sounds" behind Band 1.
3. You can only vote once per band, so you can fill in other bands you like behind Band 2 and Band 3.
4. Fill in your name and email address in the final two lines and click send ("verstuur").
5. You will now receive an email from the organisation, asking to confirm your vote.
6. In the email, press confirm ("bevestig je stem"). Done!

Lastly, you can (unfortunately) only vote once, and the competition ends on January 1st. The full lineup will be announced on February 29th.

I love this festival, and it'd mean the world to me (and other fans in the area) if The Sounds get booked. So if you voted, thank you so much! Let's hope it helps :D