BLOODSTOCK 2026 might still be shaking Catton Park to its foundations, but festival HQ has already fired the starting gun on BLOODSTOCK 2027 — and they have not come quietly.
A whopping 27 bands have been revealed, including all three Ronnie James Dio Stage headliners, all four Sophie Lancaster Stage headliners, three huge special guests and enough riffs to make the Derbyshire countryside file a noise complaint.
And this is just the beginning.
BLOODSTOCK Open Air 2027 takes place at Catton Park, Derbyshire, from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th August 2027, with around 100 more bands still to be announced.
So aye… maybe don’t pack the tent away just yet. 🤘⛺
👑 FRIDAY HEADLINER — MERCYFUL FATE
Friday night will belong to heavy metal royalty as MERCYFUL FATE return to BLOODSTOCK to headline the Ronnie James Dio Stage.
Led by the unmistakable King Diamond, Mercyful Fate helped shape the theatrical, sinister side of heavy metal long before corpse paint and occult imagery became everyday furniture in the genre.
Expect falsetto screams, dark theatrics, thunderous riffs and enough sinister atmosphere to make Catton Park feel like it has been temporarily relocated to a haunted Danish castle.
King Diamond said:
“Mercyful Fate is honored and looking extremely forward to playing BLOODSTOCK again, last time was awesome, and this time with a brand new album out, FINALLY!!!”
A new album and a headline BLOODSTOCK set?
Friday is looking tasty already.
⚡ SATURDAY HEADLINER — ELECTRIC CALLBOY
Saturday night takes a completely different turn.
German party-metal lunatics ELECTRIC CALLBOY will headline BLOODSTOCK for the very first time.
If you have somehow managed to avoid them so far, imagine metalcore being shoved into a nightclub, fed several energy drinks, dressed in neon gym gear and told to behave itself.
It would fail immediately.
Electric Callboy combine massive breakdowns, electronic beats, ridiculous humour and one of the most entertaining live shows in modern heavy music.
Catton Park is basically going to become one enormous mosh-pit rave.
The band said:
“Our first ever Bloodstock. Heavy music, questionable outfits, and thousands of metalheads? Sounds like a perfect fit to us. We’re in. See you there!”
Questionable outfits?
At BLOODSTOCK?
Never. 😂
🖤 SUNDAY HEADLINER — MOTIONLESS IN WHITE
Closing out the Ronnie James Dio Stage will be another brand-new BLOODSTOCK headliner.
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will top the Sunday bill in what will also be their only UK show of 2027.
That alone makes this one a proper big deal.
The gothic-industrial metalcore giants have built a reputation for huge hooks, crushing breakdowns, horror-inspired visuals and live shows that look like someone handed a haunted house a festival production budget.
Chris Motionless said:
“Bloodstock! We were told that we are one of the most requested bands to perform at your legendary festival, so it is with great honor to announce that we are answering the call and will be seeing you next year for our first ever European festival headlining show, and only U.K. show of 2027! Thank you so much! Let the countdown begin.”
That Sunday night spectacle could be absolutely massive.
🔥 SOPHIE LANCASTER STAGE HEADLINERS CONFIRMED
The Sophie Lancaster Stage is already looking filthy too.
Thursday — MADBALL
New York hardcore legends MADBALL will headline Thursday night.
More than three decades of hardcore attitude, riffs built for pits and precisely zero interest in subtlety.
A tidy way to kick the weekend into gear.
Friday — GAEREA
Friday night belongs to mysterious Portuguese black metal force GAEREA.
Dark, cinematic, crushing and intensely atmospheric, they should transform the Sophie tent into something far more sinister than your average festival marquee.
Saturday — KANONENFIEBER
German blackened death metal outfit KANONENFIEBER take Saturday’s headline slot.
Their music draws heavily from First World War history and personal accounts, turning warfare, fear and devastation into a theatrical and brutal live experience.
This could be one of those sets people are still talking about on Monday morning.
Sunday — DETHKLOK
And then BLOODSTOCK finishes with perhaps the most wonderfully ridiculous booking of the lot.
DETHKLOK will close the Sophie Lancaster Stage and will be the final band of BLOODSTOCK 2027.
Born from the animated series Metalocalypse, Dethklok have gone from fictional cartoon band to genuine live metal heavyweight.
Cartoon origins.
Very real riffs.
Perfect.
🤯 THREE MASSIVE SPECIAL GUESTS
As if the headliners weren’t enough, BLOODSTOCK has also revealed three huge Ronnie James Dio Stage special guests.
🐊 ACID BATH
Friday welcomes legendary Louisiana sludge pioneers ACID BATH.
Their grim mixture of sludge, doom, blues and southern gothic darkness has earned them true cult status.
This booking alone will have plenty of longtime metal fans sprinting towards the ticket office.
🌿 GREEN LUNG
Saturday brings London occult rock heroes GREEN LUNG.
Huge riffs, folk horror atmosphere, vintage British weirdness and songs seemingly designed to soundtrack midnight rituals somewhere in the Welsh mountains.
Lovely.
🎸 CHILDREN OF BODOM
Sunday will see CHILDREN OF BODOM return to celebrate the music and legacy of the late Alexi Laiho.
Few bands have had such a huge influence on melodic death metal, and this promises to be one of the most emotional and celebratory performances of the weekend.
🤘 MORE BANDS ANNOUNCED
BLOODSTOCK then casually chucked another fourteen names into the mix because apparently restraint isn’t fashionable anymore.
Also confirmed for the Ronnie James Dio Stage are:
- DevilDriver
- Corrosion of Conformity
- Imminence
- Wind Rose
- Sylosis
- Decapitated
- Witch Club Satan
- HammerFall
- Hypocrisy
- The Halo Effect
- Tortured Demon
- Gutalax
- Humanity’s Last Breath
- Conan
That is some ridiculous variety.
You’ve got the groove-heavy carnage of DevilDriver, legendary southern sludge from Corrosion of Conformity, Swedish metalcore from Imminence and full-blown dwarf-powered power metal courtesy of Wind Rose.
Then there is Sylosis bringing UK riff precision, Decapitated supplying technical death metal destruction, HammerFall waving the flag for old-school power metal and Hypocrisy representing some genuine Swedish death metal history.
The Halo Effect bring plenty of classic Gothenburg flavour, while Humanity’s Last Breath will be dropping riffs tuned low enough to communicate directly with the earth’s core.
And then there’s Gutalax.
If you know, you know.
If you don’t…
Prepare yourself for toilet humour, blast beats and possibly more inflatable bathroom accessories than any respectable festival should legally allow.
Meanwhile Liverpool’s Conan will bring what they proudly describe as “caveman battle doom”.
Basically: riffs with their own gravitational pull.
Proper job.
🦇 MORE SOPHIE STAGE CHAOS
Three further acts have been announced for the Sophie Lancaster Stage.
DOOL bring hypnotic dark rock from Rotterdam, blending doom, post-rock and plenty of brooding atmosphere.
PIG DESTROYER bring absolute grindcore violence from Virginia.
And Italian death metal outfit FULCI will arrive armed with zombie horror, old-school riffs and enough gore-soaked imagery to fill an entire VHS rental shop.
The Sophie tent is going to need reinforcing.
🎸 BLOODSTOCK 2027 — FIRST 27 BANDS
Here’s what we know so far:
Ronnie James Dio Stage Headliners
🔥 Friday — Mercyful Fate
⚡ Saturday — Electric Callboy
🖤 Sunday — Motionless In White
Special Guests
Friday — Acid Bath
Saturday — Green Lung
Sunday — Children of Bodom
Also Confirmed
DevilDriver
Corrosion of Conformity
Imminence
Wind Rose
Sylosis
Decapitated
Witch Club Satan
HammerFall
Hypocrisy
The Halo Effect
Tortured Demon
Gutalax
Humanity’s Last Breath
Conan
Sophie Lancaster Stage Headliners
Thursday — Madball
Friday — Gaerea
Saturday — Kanonenfieber
Sunday — Dethklok
Also On The Sophie Lancaster Stage
Dool
Pig Destroyer
Fulci
And remember…
around 100 more bands are still coming.
Bloody hell. 😂🔥
🎟️ BLOODSTOCK 2027 TICKETS
For those currently at BLOODSTOCK 2026, there is a decent opportunity to save some cash.
Early Bird standard weekend tickets are available from the festival’s main entrance box office for £210 with no booking fee.
Once those tickets are gone, the price rises to £235 plus booking fee.
General sale begins:
Monday 10th August 2026 at 9am.
Buying an Early Bird ticket at the festival could therefore save fans £34 per ticket.
That’s £34 towards merch.
£34 towards food.
£34 towards beer.
Or £34 worth of service-station Greggs on the journey home.
We know which one we’re choosing.
💳 INSTALMENT PLANS RETURN
The BLOODSTOCK instalment scheme will also return for 2027.
Instalment tickets go on sale:
Wednesday 12th August 2026.
Coach packages will be available from:
Monday 10th August 2026.
Wednesday early access will once again be available for selected campsites, while child tickets will also return.
Children aged under four can attend free of charge.
🐍 TWO VIP AREAS FOR 2027
BLOODSTOCK is also expanding its VIP offering next year.
There will now be two luxury VIP areas.
Fans can choose the familiar Serpent’s Lair VIP campsite, where you can pitch your own tent or book a pre-erected tent.
Or you can go for the brand-new:
🌲 SERPENT’S LAIR VIP SANCTUARY
The Sanctuary will feature a range of deluxe pod pads positioned within picturesque glades around a five-minute walk from the existing VIP campsite and main arena.
Basically, you can spend twelve hours being battered by riffs before retreating into the trees like some sort of exhausted metal woodland creature.
Not bad at all.
VIP and Campervan tickets go on sale Wednesday 12th August at 9am.
🤘 BLOODSTOCK 2027 IS ALREADY LOOKING ABSURD
We’re barely through BLOODSTOCK 2026 and the 2027 festival is already shaping up like an absolute beast.
Mercyful Fate.
Electric Callboy.
Motionless In White.
Acid Bath.
Children of Bodom.
Dethklok.
DevilDriver.
Corrosion of Conformity.
Wind Rose.
Pig Destroyer.
Sylosis.
And that’s before another hundred-or-so names turn up.
If this is only announcement number one, next year could get ridiculous very quickly.
📅 BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2027
📍 Catton Park, Derbyshire
📅 5th–8th August 2027
🎸 27 bands announced so far
🔥 Around 100 more bands still to come
The road to BLOODSTOCK 2027 has officially started.
Start saving the pennies.
Find the tent pegs.
And prepare for another weekend of riffs, pits, pints and questionable campsite decisions.
See you in the field, butt. 🤘🔥
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud.
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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