Bloodstock 2026 - What To Expect This Year
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Bloodstock Festival is set and ready to welcome back its metal-loving family from 6th-9th August at Catton Park. To utilise this milestone, let’s delve into what we can expect this year.
Image credit: Bloodstock Festival
Firstly, the Ronnie James Dio Stage is set to open itself up from Thursday, meaning more music and more head-banging.
Headlining the opening night is British heavy metal band SAXON, who were Bloodstock Festival’s first ever headliner at the initial indoor event in 2001. Alongside paying homage to the festival, SAXON will also be celebrating five decades of making music - an incredible achievement in their career.
Other RJD stage headliners across the weekend include Lamb of God, Slaughter to Prevail, and Judas Priest - a truly face-melting line-up so far.
On top of these incredible big acts, we have appearances from American deathcore band Fit For An Autopsy, metalcore kings Northlane, Swedish melodic death metal band Orbit Culture, and heavy metal rap legends Body Count.
Taking a look at the Sophie Lancaster stage, we’ve got prog legends Leprous, Carpenter Brut, Of Mice & Men, Black Spiders, and many more incredible bands to catch, bringing us a variety of genres to rock out to.
That’s not all. Cryptopsy, who will be playing the Sophie Lancaster stage, are celebrating the 30th anniversary of “None So Vile” and playing a special commemorative set.
As well as being a legendary event in the alternative music scene, Bloodstock Festival has also successfully fundraised a staggering amount of money for charity. From their 2025 event, supporting charity partners Metal For Good and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, the festival raised a whopping £11,698 from guest and media donations, and with the always popular T-shirt Amnesty adding another £2,120. This was split evenly between the two causes, meaning each charity got £6,909!
All in all, it’s a festival not to be missed this year. Make sure you have your ticket ready, and be a part of the biggest Bloodstock Festival to date.
For information on the event’s food vendors, check out their website here.
First time goer? Familiarise yourself with the epicness of past festivals on the event’s YouTube channel here. You can also browse their official gallery here.
With 90 days to go, you can still buy tickets for the festival here. Don’t miss out!