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This is an incomplete list of heavy metal festivals . The genre of heavy metal (or simply metal) is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] blues rock and psychedelic rock , the first heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple attracted large audiences, and during the late 1960s and mid-1970s these bands and others in their genre were featured at a number of historic rock festivals.[ 4] Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence.[ 5] [ 6]
After the genre fused with other related genres such as punk rock in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Saxon followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads " or "headbangers ", and there were festivals worldwide, both touring and stationary, dedicated to heavy metal subgenres and heavy metal itself. During the 1980s, glam metal became a commercial force, while Underground scenes and extreme subgenres of metal such as death metal and black metal remained subcultural phenomena, though they have their own dedicated festivals as well. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre.
Festival name
Location
Active
Approximate time of year
Notes
Overthrust Winter Metal Mania Festival[ 11]
Ghanzi
2010–present
May
featuring local and African metal bands
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
Hammersonic Festival Jakarta
2012–present
March–April
all heavy music
Hellprint Bandung
2011–present
November–March
all heavy music
Rock In Celebes
Makassar
2010–present
November
rock genres
Rock in Solo Surakarta
2004–present
October–November
heritage metal
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
Loud Park Festival Saitama City or Chiba City
2023-present
October
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Audience
Format
Notes
Hills of Rock Plovdiv 2017–present July rock, metal, crossover punk[ citation needed ]
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Audience
Format
Notes
Brutal Assault Jaroměř (Josefov Fortress )1996–present August
up to 20,000[ 16] open-air, 4 days extreme metal, heavy metal, hardcore punk, experimental music
Monsters of Rock Vizovice 2003–present July
open-air, 4 days heavy metal, power metal, speed metal, hard rock
Metalfest Plzeň 2007–present June
heavy metal, power metal, death metal[ citation needed ]
Obscene Extreme Trutnov 1999–present July
open-air grindcore, death metal, hardcore punk
Rock Castle
Moravský Krumlov 2021–present
August
[ citation needed ]
Basin Fire Fest
Spálené Poříčí 2003–present
June
[ citation needed ]
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Audience
Format
Notes
Chronical Moshers Open Air Heinsdorfergrund 1982–present June up to 1,000 open-air extreme metal [ citation needed ]
Dark Troll Festival Bornstedt 2009–present May 1,200 open-air folk metal, extreme metal [ citation needed ]
Dong Open Air Neukirchen-Vluyn 2001–present July up to 5,000 open-air all metal subgenres
Elbriot Hamburg 2013–present August up to 12,000 open-air all metal subgenres[ 20]
Euroblast Festival Cologne 2008–present October up to 12,000 progressive metal
Full Force Löbnitz 1994–present July 25,000 open-air all metal subgenres
In Flammen Open Air Torgau July up to 6,000 open-air extreme metal [ citation needed ]
Mammut Festival Königsbrunn 2022–present March 500 all metal subgenres [ citation needed ]
Metal Frenzy Open Air Gardelegen 2014–present June up to 5,000 open-air all metal subgenres [ citation needed ]
Party.San Metal Open Air Schlotheim 1996-present August up to 10,000 open-air all metal subgenres [ citation needed ]
Ragnarök Festival Lichtenfels, Bavaria 2004–present April up to 4000 indoor pagan metal, folk metal, extreme metal
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Nürburgring 1985–present June up to 92,000 open-air various rock and metal subgenres
RockXplosion Leonberg 1984–present July up to 2,000 [ citation needed ]
Rock Hard Festival Gelsenkirchen 2003–present June 7,000 open-air all metal subgenres
Rockharz Open Air Ballenstedt 1993/94-present July up to 24,000 open-air all metal subgenres [ citation needed ]
Rock um zu helfen Freiberg, Saxony October [ citation needed ]
Reload Festival Sulingen 2006-present August up to 15,000 [ citation needed ]
Summer Breeze Open Air Dinkelsbühl 1997–present August up to 40,000 open-air all metal subgenres
Under the Black Sun Friesack 1997–present June/July up to 1000 black metal [ citation needed ]
Wacken Open Air Wacken 1990–present July/August up to 85,000 open-air, 4 days biggest metal festival in Germany; all metal subgenres
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Notes
Zobens un Lemess[ citation needed ] Bauska 2014–present June folk and pagan metal
Munky Pride[ citation needed ]
Vandāni 2021–present
July
grindcore, thrash metal, death metal, punk
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Notes
Kilkim Žaibu Varniai 1999–present June (end) black metal, folk metal and Viking metal
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Notes
Artmania Festival Sibiu 2006–present
August art festival featuring heavy metal
Metalhead Meeting Bucharest 2013–present
June/July death metal, black metal, heavy metal[ citation needed ]
Rockstadt Extreme Festival Rasnov 2013–present
August death metal, black metal, heavy metal[ citation needed ]
Metal Gates Festival Bucharest 2017–present
November death metal, black metal, doom metal[ citation needed ]
Posada Rock Fest Campulung Muscel 1986–present
[ citation needed ]
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Notes
Metal Over Russia Moscow July extreme metal, folk metal
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Notes
Tolminator Tolmin 2023–present July all styles of metal, attendance capped at 5000 visitors. Spiritual successor to Metaldays and MetalCamp[ citation needed ]
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Audience
Format
Notes
Barcelona Rock Fest Barcelona 2014–present July featuring hardcore, metalcore, thrash, death, black metal, punk[ citation needed ]
Leyendas del Rock Villena 2006–present August mostly traditional, thrash, power and gothic metal[ citation needed ]
Resurrection Fest Viveiro 2006–present July open-air metalcore, thrash, death, black metal, punk[ citation needed ]
Rock Imperium
Cartagena, Spain 2022–present
June
mostly traditional, glam, power metal[ citation needed ]
Z! Live Rock Fest
Zamora, Spain 2016–present
June
mostly traditional, thrash and power metal[ citation needed ]
Festival name
Location
Active
Month
Audience
Format
Notes
Bloodstock Open Air Walton-on-Trent , England2005–present August
20,000[ 21]
open-air, 3 days
various metal subgenres
Damnation Festival Manchester , England2005–present November 6,000[ 22]
indoor, 2 days
mainly extreme metal
Download Festival Donington Park , England2003–present June 80,000[ 23] [ 24]
open-air, 3 days
largest rock and metal festival in the UK, featuring more mainstream rock, metalcore, heavy metal, and extreme metal
Hard Rock Hell Great Yarmouth , England2007–present November
indoor, 3 days
hard rock and traditional metal festival held at Vauxhall Holiday Resort
Incineration Festival
London , England2014–present
May
indoor, 1 day
extreme metal festival in Camden Town
Stonedead Festival Newark-on-Trent 2018–present
August
open-air, 1 day
traditional metal festival[ 25]
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
Gaspesian Metal Fest Matane 2018-Present
June
Underground Metal Festival
Hyperspace Metal Festival
Vancouver April
Canada's premier melodic & power metal festival
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
Candelabrum Metal Fest
León
September
Hell & Heaven Metal Fest Mexico City (Toluca)
2010–present
November - December
3 Day Open-Air Metal Festival, featuring death, thrash, black, doom, heavy, power metal & hard rock
México Metal Fest
Monterrey
2016–present
November
1 Day
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
98RockFest Tampa, FL 2007–present April Metal, grunge and hard rock festival[ 26]
Aftershock Festival Sacramento, CA 2012–present October Hard rock and heavy metal festival[ 27]
AURA Fest[ 28] Savannah, GA 2017–present June All Underground Rock All Day[ 29]
Hell's Heroes [ 30] Houston, TX 2018–present March Thrash and epic metal festival[ 31]
INKcarceration[ 32] Mansfield, OH 2018–present July Rock music and tattoo festival[ 33]
Legions of Metal Fest[ 34] Chicago, IL 2017–present June
Louder Than Life Louisville, KY 2014–present September Hard rock/heavy metal festival[ 35]
Mad With Power Fest[ 36] Madison, WI 2018–present August Power Metal/Traditional Heavy Metal festival[ 37]
Maryland Deathfest Baltimore, MD 2003–present May Extreme Music[ 38]
Mass Destruction Metal Fest[ 39] Atlanta, GA 2017–present November Extreme Metal Festival[ 40]
Milwaukee Metal Fest [ 41] Milwaukee, WI 1987–2004, 2023–present May
New England Metal and Hardcore Festival Worcester, MA 1999–2018, 2023–present September
ProgPower USA Atlanta, GA 2001–present September Progressive and Power Metal[ 42]
Rocklahoma Pryor, OK 2007–present September Hard rock and metal festival[ 43]
Sick New World Las Vegas, NV 2023–present April Nu-Metal Fest[ 44]
Sonic Temple Columbus, OH 2019, 2023–present May Hard rock and metal festival[ 45]
Welcome to Rockville Daytona Beach, FL 2011–present April/May Hard rock and heavy metal music festival[ 46]
The following is an incomplete list of traveling metal festivals, both active and defunct:
Festival name
Location
Active
Approx. time of year
Notes
MetalCamp Tolmin 2004–2012 August replaced by Metaldays, featuring death, black, folk, thrash, doom metal
Metaldays Velenje 2013–2023 August replaced Metalcamp and previously held in Tolmin, featuring death, black, folk, thrash, doom metal
↑ Du Noyer (2003), p. 96; Weinstein (2000), pp. 11–13. ↑ "The History of Heavy Metal" . musicianwave.com . 9 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022 .↑ Weinstein (2000), pp. 14, 118. ↑ Fast (2005), pp. 89–91; Weinstein (2000), pp. 7, 8, 23, 36, 103, 104. ↑ Walser (1993), p. 6. ↑ "As much as Sabbath started it, Priest were the ones who took it out of the blues and straight into metal." Bowe, Brian J. Judas Priest: Metal Gods . ISBN 0-7660-3621-9 ↑ "Portuguese Mangualde Hardmetalfest 28th Edition is Getting Ready to Rock" . atmostfear-entertainment.com . Retrieved 3 January 2025 .↑ "Hardmetalfest 2025" . masqueticket.com . Retrieved 3 January 2025 .↑ "Welcome to Rockville gives first look at 2022 lineup" . clickorlando.com . Retrieved 14 December 2024 .↑ "Welcome To Rockville 2025 Returns to Daytona International Speedway with North America's Largest Rock Festival and Its Biggest Lineup Ever" . gratefulweb.com . Retrieved 14 December 2024 .↑ "African Heavy Metal Bands Give Back to their Communities" . BORGEN . 10 September 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2016 .↑ "Kaltenbach Open Air" . kaltenbach-openair.at . Retrieved 15 April 2024 .↑ "Warmes Duschwasser für Nova-Rock-Besucher" . ENERENT GmbH (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2025 .↑ "Graspop 2022: Ein Grand Cru" . BRF Nachrichten (in German). 20 June 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2025 .↑ "History" . alcatraz.be . Retrieved 25 September 2022 .↑ "Brutal Assault heavy metal festival attracts 20,000 visitors" . Radio Prague International . 13 August 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2025 .↑ "Live Report: HARD ROCK LAAGER 2017 Festival: "A Hidden Treasure In Deep Forests Of Estonia" . metalshockfinland.com . 29 July 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2023 .↑ "John Smith Rock Festival 2023 in Laukaa (FI)" . festivalsunited.com . Retrieved 4 April 2023 .↑ "Metallica closes a gargantuan festival in style -" . 7 July 2023. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2025 .↑ "Elbriot Festival 2016" . tilogo.com . Retrieved 5 June 2023 .↑ "Bloodstock review – this is the UK's best fest for true heavy metal madness" . The Guardian ↑ "Festival Preview: Damnation Festival 2023" . Distorted Sound . 26 October 2023.↑ "Download Festival: Metal fans praise event with 'great' atmosphere" . BBC News . 14 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2026 .↑ "Guide: Your ticket to Download Festival" . Ticketmaster Discover↑ "One Day, One Stage, One Monster Show" . stonedeadfestival.co.uk . Retrieved 2 April 2023 .↑ "98ROCKFEST lineup" . tampabay.com . Retrieved 24 April 2023 .↑ "Aftershock Festival Featuring Guns N' Roses, Queens of the Stone Age, Megadeth, Tool, Incubus, Pantera, and More Taking Place This Fall" . 955klos.com . 21 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023 .↑ "AURA Fest announces" . savannahnow.com . Retrieved 25 May 2022 .↑ "AURA Fest announces" . savannahnow.com . Retrieved 24 September 2022 .↑ "HELL'S HEROES Festival Reveals Full 2025 Band Lineup" . knac.com . Retrieved 14 December 2024 .↑ "Hells Heroes Festival 2025" . musicfestivalwizard.com . Retrieved 14 December 2024 .↑ "INKcarceration" . mansfieldnewsjournal.com . Retrieved 31 August 2022 .↑ "Inkcarceration announces lineup for 2022 rock festival at Ohio State Reformatory" . richlandsource.com . 3 February 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022 .↑ "Legions of Metal Fest" . reggieslive.com . Retrieved 15 December 2023 .↑ "REVIEW: Here's What We Experienced At Louder Than Life 2022" . leoweekly.com . Retrieved 25 March 2023 .↑ "Mad With Power Fest" . madwithpowerfest.com . Retrieved 20 August 2022 .↑ "Mad With Power Fest" . madwithpowerfest.com . Retrieved 24 September 2022 .↑ "About Deathfests" . deathfests.com . Retrieved 24 September 2022 .↑ "Mass Destruction" . massdestructionmetalfest.com . Retrieved 15 May 2022 .↑ "MASS DESTRUCTION METAL FEST" . earsplitcompound.com . 19 December 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2022 .↑ "Milwaukee Metal Fest" . milwaukeemetalfestival.com . Retrieved 16 December 2023 .↑ EvilG. "Heart of Steel: Interviews Glenn Harveston Organizer of ProgPower USA" . Metal-Rules. Retrieved 24 September 2022 . ↑ "Rocklahoma To Include MEGADETH, ROB ZOMBIE, DEVILDRIVER And More This Year!" . metalinjection.net . 14 January 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2023 .↑ "Sick New World Festival Announces 2024 Lineup" . stereogum.com . 9 October 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024 .↑ "Sonic Temple 2023" . consequence.net . 10 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023 .↑ "Welcome to Rockville gives first look at 2022 lineup" . clickorlando.com . 8 December 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2022 .↑ "Headbangers Boat" . headbangersboat.com . Retrieved 15 January 2024 .↑ "Monsters of Rock Cruise 2024" . monstersofrockcruise.com . Retrieved 17 January 2024 .
Subtypes Travelingitalics = ongoing) Culture Related events
England
Netherlands
Russia
Germany
Sweden
Belgium
Portugal
France
United States
