UK Metal and Rock Festivals
Where and when the UK's long-running rock and metal festivals usually happen, and what kind of heavy music each one is known for.
The UK packs a lot of heavy music into a small area: Download and Bloodstock for metal fans, Slam Dunk, ArcTanGent and Damnation for more specialist tastes, and Reading and Leeds for mainstream rock. Most run between late May and late August, while Damnation closes the calendar indoors in November.
| Festival | Usual month | Where | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slam Dunk | Late May bank holiday weekend | Temple Newsam, Leeds, and Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire | Emo, pop-punk, metalcore and ska |
| Download | June | Donington Park, Leicestershire | Big-name rock and metal |
| Bloodstock Open Air | August | Catton Park, Derbyshire | Independent heavy metal |
| ArcTanGent | August | The Gloucestershire Cotswolds | Math rock, post-rock, prog and experimental metal |
| Reading and Leeds | August bank holiday weekend | Richfield Avenue, Reading, and Bramham Park, Leeds | Rock, indie and alternative |
| Damnation | November | BEC Arena, Manchester | Indoor extreme metal |
The big outdoor weekends
Download Festival has been held at Donington Park in Leicestershire since 2003, on the site that earlier hosted the Monsters of Rock festival. It runs in June and calls itself the UK's premier rock festival, with merchandise stalls, food and drink vendors and a large camping area alongside the music. It is known for its scale and its ability to attract some of the biggest names in metal and rock.
Bloodstock Open Air takes place at Catton Park in Derbyshire each August and describes itself as the UK's largest independent heavy metal festival, run "by the fans for the fans". It has a reputation for an independent-minded line-up and a big metal market on site.
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual festivals held over the August bank holiday weekend, at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds. They feature a variety of genres but have long been dominated by rock, indie and alternative acts, and the two sites share one bill, with acts playing each site on different days of the weekend.
Specialist and indoor events
Slam Dunk is an independent rock festival that celebrates emo, pop-punk, metalcore and ska. It runs over the late May bank holiday weekend as two shows, North at Temple Newsam in Leeds and South at Hatfield Park in Hertfordshire, with the same artists playing both on consecutive days.
ArcTanGent is built around math rock, post-rock, progressive and experimental metal, and has run each August since 2013. It spent its first dozen editions at Fernhill Farm near Bristol before moving to a farm site in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds.
Damnation Festival is the odd one out: an indoor extreme metal festival held each November. It began in Manchester, spent many years at the University of Leeds and has since moved to the BEC Arena in Manchester, where it runs over two days and bills itself as Europe's largest indoor extreme music festival.
Line-ups, dates, ticket types, age rules and camping details change from one edition to the next, and sites can move, as ArcTanGent and Damnation both have. Check each festival's official site before you book or travel, and buy tickets only from the official seller or its authorised resale partner.
