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BLOODSTOCK ANNOUNCES 27 MORE BANDS FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

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As plans for BLOODSTOCK’s 25th anniversary get underway, the festival has unveiled another 27 bands for 2026’s monumental event. With heavyweights, cult favourites, and rising stars joining the awesome bands already announced, this year’s line-up is shaping up to be one for the ages. And there are still plenty more names yet to come, with approximately 125 bands in total set to appear. Did you know? BLOODSTOCK is going to open the Ronnie James Dio main stage on Thursday now as well! Early bird, campervan, and VIP tickets are already sold out and weekend tickets are over 90% gone, so act quickly to get tickets if you don’t want to miss out!
And so to the bands… 

THURSDAY – RONNIE JAMES DIO STAGE

Headlining the opening night on the Ronnie James Dio main stage are none other than British heavy metal legends SAXON. With over four decades of anthems and an iron-clad reputation for blistering live shows, SAXON’s triumphant return to BLOODSTOCK will kick off the weekend in classic style. Expect a masterclass in pure heavy metal power.

Also joining Thursday’s main stage are BLOODSTOCK favourites EVIL SCARECROW, who bring their eccentric, theatrical brand of tongue-in-cheek metal mayhem, and HEAVYSAURUS, the dinosaur-costumed heroes delivering family-friendly metal fun. Previously announced for the Sophie Lancaster stage, HEAVYSAURUS now stomp onto the RJD stage for maximum roar.

FRIDAY – RONNIE JAMES DIO STAGE

Prepare for the unnerving, true crime inspired, industrial sounds of SKYND, the outrageous brutal slamming, death metal riot of PARTY CANNON, and the serpentine heavy rock theatrics of BATTLESNAKE.

SATURDAY – RONNIE JAMES DIO STAGE

Warm up your necks, thrash-fuelled crossover aggression comes courtesy of London’s INHUMAN NATURE, flying the flag for the new generation of feral thrash.

SUNDAY – RONNIE JAMES DIO STAGE

Closing the weekend in ferocious style, BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to host the BLOODSTOCK debut of Canadian alt-metal pioneers KITTIE. Joining them are occult doom bringers CASTLE RAT – all hail the Rat Queen, boundary-smashing modern hardcore crew GRAPHIC NATURE, and Wild West metal rabble rousers BOOTYARD BANDITS (from Worcester no less).

FRIDAY – SOPHIE LANCASTER STAGE

Unleash the chaos with German grindcore absurdists EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS, Australian thrash squad HIDDEN INTENT, UK medieval power metallers SELLSWORD, Danish death metal beasts NECKBREAKKER, electro nu-core party-starters SEETHING AKIRA, and rising Scottish extreme metal outfit HAMMER.

SATURDAY – SOPHIE LANCASTER STAGE

Expect no compromises from UK hardcore institution STAMPIN GROUND, genre-bending heavy hitters URNE, death metal purists CELESTIAL SANCTUARY, swaggering stoner rock bruisers VIKING SKULL, down-tempo brutality from BOUND IN FEAR, technical groove maestros IMPERIUM, and amphibian doom oddballs FROGLORD.

SUNDAY – SOPHIE LANCASTER STAGE

Round off the weekend with the masked industrial spectacle of MUSHROOMHEAD, soaring alt-rockers DREAM STATE, and blackened extremists TRIVAX.
CHARITY FUNDS RAISED AT BLOODSTOCK 2025

BLOODSTOCK is also proud to share the incredible fundraising achievements from the 2025 event, supporting charity partners Metal For Good and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation. Guest & media donations raised a fantastic £11,698, with the always popular T-shirt Amnesty adding another £2,120, making a grand total of £13,818 – split equally to provide £6,909 for each charity. In addition, Shepherd Events, who run the BLOODSTOCK bars, made an extra contribution to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation by donating bar tips and running ‘spin to win’ competitions, plus Christopher Roberts and Taylan Rodgers, who worked tirelessly on the bars all weekend, generously donated their entire earnings. That pooled £1725 and Alan Shepherd then rounded it up to give The Sophie Lancaster Foundation an additional £2000.

Katy Baker, Co-Founder of Metal For Good, said:“We have been blown away by the generous support of the Bloodstock team and their wonderful festival goers. We raised a huge amount of money from our stand and through donations from the festival and the merch amnesty, all of which will support incredible community projects using music to change lives. The weekend itself was amazing, so many great bands, smiley faces and brilliant partners – including The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, who we are honoured to share the charity donations with. Thank you to everyone for putting on such an incredible event!”
Help make BLOODSTOCK better! If you attended this year, complete the exit survey here to give your feedback and help with suggestions for 2026! Be sure to leave your details at the end for a chance of winning standard weekend tickets for next summer!

Tickets are flying fast – snap yours up now at the ticket store and be part of history at BLOODSTOCK’s silver anniversary! Wednesday early access is also available in some campsites for those who want to max out their BLOODSTOCK experience. Day tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Important date alert: Applications for accessible access will open at 9am BST on October 11th. For more info and details on how to apply, click here.

BLOODSTOCK’s 25th anniversary is going to be truly unforgettable. With many more bands & additional on site entertainment still to be announced, this is the must-attend celebration of 2026!

BLOODSTOCK 2026 will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 6th – 9th August, 2026.

Already announced to perform at BLOODSTOCK 2026 are RJD headliners LAMB OF GOD, SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, and JUDAS PRIEST. Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, your headliners are CRYPTOPSY (None So Vile 30-year anniversary set), WEDNESDAY 13, LEPROUS, and CARPENTER BRUT.

Joining the fun over the full event are SEPULTURA, MUNICIPAL WASTE, DEATH ANGEL, NORTHLANE, BLEED FROM WITHIN, VENDED, ORBIT CULTURE, THE SCRATCH, IMPERIAL AGE, LIFE OF AGONY, OF MICE & MEN, BIOHAZARD, 200 STAB WOUNDS, THE HELL, BLACK SPIDERS, SHINING, and NEVERMORE!

For the most up to date festival information, visit the official website at bloodstock.uk.com.

        

BLOODSTOCK ANNOUNCES 25 BANDS FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2026

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BLOODSTOCK is delighted to return to Catton Park in August 2026 to celebrate its 25th anniversary  – will you be there to celebrate this momentous occasion with everyone?

With 2025’s event fully underway with headliners TRIVIUM, MACHINE HEAD, and GOJIRA melting faces this weekend (alongside 120+ more bands), BLOODSTOCK cordially invites you to get excited for 2026 too, by revealing the first 25 bands set to make 2026 the festival’s best year yet. 

You can snap up tickets immediately at the on site box office at an early bird price, saving yourself the booking fee. More info on all ticket types and on sale dates is further below.

BLOODSTOCK is overjoyed to welcome back titans of groove metal, the unmistakable LAMB OF GOD as Friday’s headliner on the Ronnie James Dio stage.  Frontman D. Randall Blythe states, “We are thrilled to return to headline Bloodstock in 2026! The UK is one of our favourite countries in the world to play and Bloodstock is one of our favourite festivals. And to Bloodstock security… I will make sure I have my pass on me at all times. See you next August!” 
BLOODSTOCK is always keen to give fresh faces the opportunity to show what they’re made of and step it up to headliner status. Without further ado, Saturday’s RJD headliner will be none other than the crushing SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL. That gives you a year to get up to speed with their just released, new album ‘Grizzly.’ Beware of bears on site from tomorrow… 
BLOODSTOCK salutes one of our most iconic metal bands on Sunday, who are celebrating more than fifty years of making heavy metal history. Who else to headline then, but metal gods JUDAS PRIEST. The pioneering group have so many classic tracks, you should start debating what the set list will look like now. 



Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, your Thursday headliner will be tech death Canadians CRYPTOPSY, with a None So Vile 30-year anniversary set. Friday’s headliner sees the Duke of Spook, WEDNESDAY 13 at his spellbinding and macabre best.

On Saturday, Norwegian progressives LEPROUS will close out the stage. And to wring out any last energy you might still have after JUDAS PRIEST have finished with you on Sunday, dark synth artist CARPENTER BRUT will wrap up the weekend in dazzling fashion.

Who else might you catch on the Ronnie James Dio main stage over the festival? BLOODSTOCK can reveal the legendary SEPULTURA will appear as part of their final farewell tour, see them while you still can. Sure to challenge the crowd surfer record again, are you ready for MUNICIPAL WASTE?

Speaking of pulverizing, you won’t want to miss seminal thrashers DEATH ANGEL lay down the law. Fans of modern metalcore should get revved up about the confirmation of Australian squad NORTHLANE and Scottish bruisers BLEED FROM WITHIN.

But if nu-metal is more your thing, then Des Moines massive VENDED will be just what you are hoping for. There’s plenty of excellent talent coming over from mainland Europe too with melo-death Swedes ORBIT CULTURE added to the line-up.

For a musical curveball, how do you feel about Irish traditional music mixed with heavy metal? THE SCRATCH will offer you a chance to find out. Don’t be downhearted symphonic & power metal fans, you haven’t been forgotten – IMPERIAL AGE are coming to make all things right.

2026 also sees the inimitable LIFE OF AGONY return to BLOODSTOCK, after sadly a medical emergency forced cancellation in 2022 – they will be worth the wait! And that’s not all, Californian rockers OF MICE & MEN are also locked in, plus hardcore giants BIOHAZARD, who are sure to create one of the most impressive pits of the weekend too.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! There’s plenty of headbangin’ shenanigans to be had over in the Sophie tent all festival too, not least with Jurassic levels of entertainment coming from HEAVYSAURUS (yes, we like dinosaurs).

Cleveland death metallers 200 STAB WOUNDS and THE HELL also join the affray to blow any cobwebs away, and if that’s not enough, Sheffield crew BLACK SPIDERS bring some rock n roll classic riffs guaranteed to get the party in full swing. For something a little more avant garde, maybe a blackjazz set from Norwegians SHINING will take your fancy.

Have we saved the best for last? We know you’ll be pleased with the very long awaited return of NEVERMORE!
BLOODSTOCK WELCOMES HEAVY METAL TRUANTS

After thirteen annual cycle rides from London to Download Festival, the Heavy Metal Truants are thrilled to announce that next year will see them charting a new path to glory — destination: BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR.
Co-founded in 2013 by then Metal Hammer Editor In Chief Alexander Milas and Iron Maidenmanager Rod Smallwood, the Heavy Metal Truants have so far raised over £1.5 million for four children’s charities: Teenage Cancer Trust, Nordoff & Robbins Music Therapy, Childline, and Save the Children. Since its beginning, this unique initiative has been spearheaded by a three day, 30-person, 175-mile cycle from London to the gates of a major metal festival, and next year that destination is BLOODSTOCK.

“Heavy Metal Truants is more than a cause – it’s a family, and our success and longevity is testament to the power of this metal community which we are so proud to be a part of,” said Milas. “The help and generosity we’ve had from our friends at Download Festival has been nothing less than legendary, but after 13 years, the timing felt right to carry the torch to new, hallowed ground. The response from Bloodstock when we floated the idea was nothing short of phenomenal.”

Adam Gregory, Director of Bloodstock, adds, “Bloodstock is honoured to have been chosen to have the baton passed to us from Download. As we join together with the Heavy Metal Truants on the next part of their incredible journey, I’m confident our fans will continue supporting such a monumental effort from HMT and everyone involved for some truly amazing causes.” The 2026 ride will invite cyclists of all backgrounds and abilities to take up the gruelling challenge of cycling 175 miles with a single goal: raising vital funds for kids in need. As in previous years, the Heavy Metal Truants will also include a series of virtual challenges so walkers, runners, and cyclists from all over the world can also support and take part.

JOIN THE RIDE! You’ll be in good company! See some of the previous pedal-to-the-metal family below!
Sign-ups for HMTXIV are open NOW.

For updates and registration: www.heavymetaltruants.com Follow on social: @hmtruants