🤘🔥 Bloodstock Open Air 2027 – The UK’s Independent Metal Pilgrimage Returns To Catton Park

📅 Dates: Thursday 5 – Sunday 8 August 2027
📍 Venue: Catton Park
🌍 Location: Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, England
🎸 Festival Type: Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Thrash, Metalcore, Hardcore, Doom, Black Metal & Extreme Music
🎪 Stages: Four
🎤 Artists: 120+ expected across the festival
👥 Attendance: Around 20,000 metalheads
⛺ Camping: Included with standard weekend tickets
🌙 Wednesday Early Arrival: Available separately for selected campsites
👨‍👩‍👧 Age Restriction: All ages – under-16s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian aged 18+
🧒 Under-4s: Free
🎟️ Standard Weekend Ticket: £235 plus booking fee
⚡ Early-Bird Tickets: Sold out
💳 Instalment Scheme: Sold out
🐍 VIP: Sold out
🚐 Campervan Tickets: Sold out
🎫 Day Tickets: Coming later

Get the battle jacket ready, start strengthening the neck muscles and begin mentally preparing yourself for four days of riffs because Bloodstock Open Air returns to Catton Park from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 August 2027.

And the next chapter is already looking absolutely monstrous.

After celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2026, Bloodstock isn’t slowing down for a second. The first waves of bands for 2027 are already out, with Mercyful Fate, Electric Callboy and Motionless In White locked in as Ronnie James Dio Stage headliners.

Throw in Acid Bath, Children Of Bodom, Green Lung, DevilDriver, Corrosion Of Conformity, HammerFall, Hypocrisy, Make Them Suffer, Carnifex, The Acacia Strain, Pig Destroyer, Dethklok, Madball, Gaerea and a rapidly expanding army of heavy music, and Derbyshire is already preparing for another full-scale metal invasion.

Welcome home, Bloodstockers.

🔥 Bloodstock Open Air 2027 Headliners

Bloodstock’s mighty Ronnie James Dio Stage will be topped by three very different heavyweight acts across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

👑 Friday 6 August – Mercyful Fate

Friday night belongs to Mercyful Fate.

The Danish heavy metal legends return to Bloodstock after previously headlining the festival in 2022, with King Diamond and company bringing their unmistakable blend of occult atmosphere, traditional heavy metal, theatrical darkness and enormous riffs back to Catton Park.

Mercyful Fate’s influence stretches across generations of metal.

Thrash.

Black metal.

Extreme metal.

Traditional heavy metal.

You can hear pieces of their DNA everywhere.

Seeing those songs blasted across the Ronnie James Dio Stage underneath a Derbyshire night sky should be something properly special.

⚡ Saturday 7 August – Electric Callboy

Saturday sees Electric Callboy take the biggest step of their Bloodstock journey yet.

The German electronicore party machine will headline the Ronnie James Dio Stage with their completely unhinged mixture of metalcore breakdowns, electronic music, rave beats, massive hooks and a live show that regularly looks like somebody has accidentally combined a metal festival with a nightclub at 2am.

There will be riffs.

There will be synths.

There will probably be ridiculous outfits.

And we strongly suspect standing still will be completely impossible.

💀 Sunday 8 August – Motionless In White

Closing Bloodstock Open Air 2027 are Motionless In White.

The American gothic metalcore favourites will bring their blend of industrial heaviness, horror-inspired visuals, enormous choruses and theatrical production to the festival’s final night.

The headline appearance represents a major moment for the band and promises one hell of a way to close four days of Bloodstock chaos.

By Sunday night, everyone will be tired.

Everyone will be dusty.

Nobody’s neck will work properly.

And then Motionless In White will turn up and demand one final effort.

Standard Bloodstock.

🎪 Sophie Lancaster Stage Headliners

The Sophie Lancaster Stage is hardly taking things easy either.

Thursday belongs to Madball, bringing New York hardcore straight into the opening-night chaos.

Friday sees Portuguese extreme-metal force Gaerea take over.

Saturday belongs to German blackened death-metal outfit Kanonenfieber.

And Sunday brings Dethklok to close the stage.

That’s hardcore, blackened extremity, conceptual war-themed metal and animated death-metal madness across four nights.

Lovely.

🎤 Bloodstock Open Air 2027 Line-Up So Far

The currently announced line-up includes:

Mercyful Fate
Electric Callboy
Motionless In White
Acid Bath
Green Lung
Children Of Bodom
Imminence
DevilDriver
Wind Rose
HammerFall
Corrosion Of Conformity
Sylosis
Hypocrisy
The Halo Effect
Decapitated
Witch Club Satan
Humanity’s Last Breath
Gutalax
Conan
Tortured Demon
Madball
Gaerea
Kanonenfieber
Dethklok
Pig Destroyer
Fulci
Dool
DVNE
Make Them Suffer
Dog Tired
Carnifex
Steak
Cryptic Shift
Calva Louise
Divine Chaos
False Reality
Gama Bomb
Eville
Space Of Variations
Luna Kills
Spitting Glass
Left To Suffer
Blynd
Uburen
The Acacia Strain

And there are still loads more bands to come.

Bloodstock usually fills its bill with more than 120 artists by the time August arrives, so the current poster is nowhere near finished.

Prepare for repeated announcements.

And repeated damage to your clashfinder.

💥 Make Them Suffer Join The Main Stage

One of the latest additions is Australian metalcore force Make Them Suffer.

Their mixture of crushing guitars, electronic textures, keyboards and huge melodic moments should work brilliantly on the Ronnie James Dio Stage.

Bloodstock has increasingly embraced different corners of modern heavy music alongside its more traditional metal roots, and Make Them Suffer fit perfectly into that growing mix.

💀 Carnifex Bring The Deathcore

Sunday gets another serious injection of brutality with Carnifex.

The Californian deathcore veterans have spent more than two decades refining a sound that combines crushing breakdowns with blackened atmosphere and extreme-metal aggression.

Translation?

The pit is going to be busy.

Very busy.

🔥 The Acacia Strain

The Sophie Lancaster Stage will also welcome The Acacia Strain on Sunday.

Blending hardcore, deathcore, sludge and doom into something spectacularly unpleasant — in the best possible way — the Massachusetts heavyweights should feel completely at home inside Bloodstock’s darker corners.

Expect riffs with the approximate weight of agricultural machinery.

🌌 DVNE Bring Progressive Heaviness

Edinburgh’s DVNE are another particularly tasty addition.

Their expansive mixture of post-metal, progressive heaviness and huge atmospheric compositions should provide a welcome change of pace among the weekend’s blast beats and breakdowns.

Bloodstock line-ups work best when they’re varied.

And DVNE are exactly the sort of booking that gives the festival extra depth.

🔥 Gama Bomb Bring The Thrash

Northern Ireland’s Gama Bomb return with their wonderfully frantic brand of thrash.

Fast riffs.

Horror movies.

Science fiction.

Absolute nonsense.

Essentially, if you enjoy your thrash metal sounding like somebody has consumed twelve cans of energy drink and watched an entire VHS collection overnight, you’re in safe hands.

🤘 Four Stages Of Metal

Bloodstock is spread across four main music stages.

🔥 Ronnie James Dio Stage

This is the big one.

The festival’s outdoor main stage hosts the biggest artists on the bill and becomes the centre of Bloodstock throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

🖤 Sophie Lancaster Stage

Named in memory of Sophie Lancaster, the tented stage has become almost as important to Bloodstock’s identity as the main stage.

Heavyweight artists.

Extreme music.

Cult favourites.

Late-night sets.

And occasionally performances so packed you’ll wonder whether the entire festival has attempted to enter the same tent.

🌱 New Blood Stage

This is one of the most important stages at Bloodstock.

The New Blood Stage showcases emerging artists discovered through Bloodstock’s Metal 2 The Masses programme.

Bands compete through regional heats around the UK and beyond for the opportunity to perform at Catton Park.

Some of today’s established Bloodstock names began much further down the festival ladder.

So don’t ignore New Blood.

Today’s unknown afternoon band might be tomorrow’s main-stage monster.

⚡ EMP Stage

The EMP Stage provides another platform for developing and alternative artists across the festival weekend.

Again, Riff Report rule:

Watch bands you don’t know.

That’s where the fun starts.

🌱 Metal 2 The Masses

Bloodstock’s Metal 2 The Masses programme is one of the strongest grassroots initiatives connected to any major UK heavy festival.

Regional competitions give unsigned and developing bands the opportunity to fight for a place at Bloodstock.

Not metaphorically fight.

Usually.

The winners earn slots on the New Blood Stage, giving emerging musicians the chance to perform in front of thousands of dedicated metal fans.

That’s massive.

For some bands, Bloodstock becomes the biggest show they’ve ever played.

For audiences, it provides a constant supply of new music to investigate.

Everyone wins.

Except your Spotify playlist, which becomes completely unmanageable by Monday.

⛺ Camping At Bloodstock

Bloodstock is a proper camping festival.

Weekend tickets include standard camping, with several campsite areas available around Catton Park.

Each campsite develops its own atmosphere.

Some are lively.

Some are quieter.

And then there’s Midgard.

Midgard has traditionally been Bloodstock’s loud late-night campsite, complete with bar and entertainment.

If your plan involves going to sleep immediately after the final band?

Maybe choose somewhere else.

If your plan involves shouting Slayer lyrics at 3am?

You’ve probably found your people.

🌙 Wednesday Early Arrival

For festival-goers who want to get settled before Thursday properly kicks off, Wednesday early-arrival tickets are available for selected campsites.

You’ll need both a valid weekend ticket and the appropriate early-arrival ticket.

Wednesday is ideal for getting the tent pitched, finding your festival mates and learning the layout before thousands more metalheads arrive.

Plus, you’re technically extending Bloodstock by another day.

Which is obviously sensible behaviour.

🐍 Serpent’s Lair VIP

Bloodstock also operates its premium Serpent’s Lair VIP experience.

VIP options for 2027 have already proved hugely popular, with the main allocation selling out early.

The upgraded experience includes dedicated camping and hospitality areas for those who prefer their heavy metal weekend with a few additional creature comforts.

Because there’s no rule saying you can’t watch death metal and then sleep somewhere nice afterwards.

🎟️ Bloodstock Open Air 2027 Tickets

Current standard weekend tickets are:

🎟️ £235 Plus Booking Fee

The standard weekend ticket includes camping.

Several other allocations have already sold out, including:

Early-Bird Weekend Tickets

Instalment Scheme Tickets

VIP Packages

Campervan Tickets

Day tickets will be released later.

If Bloodstock 2027 is definitely happening for you, waiting indefinitely might not be the clever move.

This festival has form for selling out.

👨‍👩‍👧 Bloodstock Is All Ages

Bloodstock is an all-ages festival.

Anyone under 16 must remain accompanied by a parent or guardian aged 18 or over.

Children under four can attend free.

Bloodstock does warn that the festival isn’t specifically designed around children’s entertainment, so parents should consider whether the environment suits their youngsters.

And if you’re bringing young metalheads:

Get proper hearing protection.

No exceptions.

👂 Protect Those Lugholes

Actually, adults need it too.

Four days.

Multiple stages.

Festival PA systems.

Metal bands.

That’s an enormous amount of sound exposure.

Good filtered earplugs reduce damaging volume without turning everything into muffled soup.

You want Bloodstock memories.

You don’t want permanent ringing.

Protect your ears.

♿ Accessibility

Bloodstock operates dedicated accessibility arrangements covering areas including accessible camping, parking and on-site facilities.

Applications are handled separately through the festival’s accessibility system.

Anyone requiring support should check the latest Bloodstock accessibility information well ahead of the festival rather than leaving arrangements until August.

Catton Park is a large outdoor site, so preparation makes a massive difference.

🍺 Lemmy’s Bar & The Bloodstock Booze Situation

A metal festival without a decent bar would feel fundamentally wrong.

Bloodstock understands.

Lemmy’s Bar has become one of the festival’s recognisable drinking spots, while numerous other bars operate around the site.

Bloodstock has traditionally offered an enormous selection of real ales alongside lagers, ciders, alcohol-free drinks and other options.

There’s enough variety to turn ordering a drink into a research project.

Just remember:

It’s four days.

Drink some water occasionally.

Your Sunday self will be extremely grateful.

🍔 Food At Bloodstock

Catton Park fills up with food traders throughout the weekend.

Burgers.

Pizza.

Breakfast.

Vegan options.

Festival carbs in every available form.

You’re going to need them.

Trying to survive Bloodstock on beer alone sounds very metal until approximately Saturday lunchtime when your entire body files a formal complaint.

Eat something.

👕 The Metal Market

Bring money.

Actually…

Bring slightly more money than you were planning.

The Bloodstock metal market is extremely dangerous territory for anyone susceptible to:

Band shirts.

Patches.

Battle-jacket supplies.

Records.

Alternative clothing.

Jewellery.

Artwork.

Collectables.

Random metal objects you absolutely do not need but somehow desperately require.

Your bank balance has been warned.

✍️ Meet The Bands

Bloodstock traditionally includes a signing area where selected artists meet fans throughout the weekend.

It’s another thing that makes the festival feel surprisingly intimate considering the size of some of the names appearing.

Keep an eye on official festival announcements and the Bloodstock app for signing schedules closer to August.

📱 The Bloodstock App

The official Bloodstock Open Air app is well worth having during festival weekend.

It provides line-up information, schedules, updates and notifications, making it considerably easier to navigate the weekend once the final stage times arrive.

Because trying to remember 120 bands and four stages after three days at a metal festival is optimistic at best.

🌐 Bloodstock Official Website & Social Media

For the latest line-up announcements, tickets, stage splits and festival information, follow Bloodstock through its official channels.

🌐 Official Website: Bloodstock Open Air

📸 Instagram: @bloodstockopenair

📘 Facebook: Bloodstock

❌ X / Twitter: @BLOODSTOCKFEST

▶️ YouTube: @Bloodstockfestivals

📱 Official App: Bloodstock Open Air

The festival’s socials are particularly worth following throughout autumn and winter because the 2027 line-up is still growing rapidly.

📅 Bloodstock Open Air 2027 At A Glance

🤘 Thursday 5 August 2027

Festival opening day.

Sophie Lancaster Stage action begins, with Madball leading Thursday’s currently announced programme.

🔥 Friday 6 August 2027

First full main-stage day.

Mercyful Fate headline the Ronnie James Dio Stage.

Gaerea headline Sophie Lancaster.

⚡ Saturday 7 August 2027

Full festival day.

Electric Callboy headline the Ronnie James Dio Stage.

Kanonenfieber top Sophie Lancaster.

💀 Sunday 8 August 2027

Final festival day.

Motionless In White close the Ronnie James Dio Stage.

Dethklok headline Sophie Lancaster.

Then thousands of exhausted metalheads attempt to locate their tents and accept that Monday morning exists.

🔥 Why Bloodstock Matters

Bloodstock occupies a special place in the UK festival landscape.

It’s big enough to attract internationally recognised headliners.

Small enough to retain a genuine community atmosphere.

Independent.

Metal-focused.

And still committed to putting unsigned artists onto meaningful stages.

You can spend Friday watching one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history and then spend Saturday afternoon discovering a grassroots act playing the biggest show of their lives.

That’s Bloodstock.

It’s about the headliners.

But it isn’t only about the headliners.

It’s about the campsite.

The battle jackets.

The New Blood Stage.

The weird conversations at 2am.

The merch haul.

The pits.

The friends you only seem to see once a year.

And that wonderful moment when you walk through the gates and somebody inevitably says:

“Bloodstock, we’re home!”

So stick 5–8 August 2027 in the calendar.

Get the tent sorted.

Start building the clashfinder.

And prepare for another glorious weekend on the Hallowed Grounds.

🤘 Four days.

🔥 120+ bands.

💀 20,000 metalheads.

⛺ Camping chaos.

🎸 Grassroots discoveries.

🍺 Lemmy’s Bar.

🤘🔥 BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2027 – SEE YOU ON THE HALLOWED GROUNDS.

🐉 The Riff Report Festival Calendar

The Riff Report Festival Calendar tracks rock, metal, punk, hardcore and alternative festivals taking place across Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond.

From enormous summer gatherings to independent celebrations built by metalheads for metalheads, we’re keeping those essential dates in one place.

Bloodstock Open Air 2027 – Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 August at Catton Park, Derbyshire. Bloodstockers, prepare to come home. 🤘🔥💀