Bloodstock Open Air

Bloodstock Open Air is a yearly heavy metal festival held each August since 2005 at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, England. It is described as the United Kingdom's largest independent metal festival, with more than 100 bands playing on several stages and around 20,000 attendees. It is similar to the nearby Download Festival, but Bloodstock is smaller, focuses on heavy metal, and includes underground bands as well as mainstream ones. Bloodstock also has a New Blood stage, reserved for at least thirty new and unsigned bands; these are chosen through 'Metal to the Masses', regional battle of the bands contests held throughout the UK, Ireland and parts of mainland Europe.
Bloodstock began in 2001 as an indoor event at the Derby Assembly Rooms, gradually growing in size and becoming an outdoor festival in 2005. Its main stages are named after Ronnie James Dio and Sophie Lancaster. Bloodstock also hosts a bust that holds the ashes of Lemmy from Motörhead.

WWW bloodstock.uk.com

History

Originally on one stage only, the festival expanded to incorporate a second stage in 2006. Known simply as The Unsigned Stage, it was designed to provide a platform for the next generation of metal talent to reach a wider audience. In 2010 it was renamed The New Blood Stage.
2007 saw further expansion with the addition of a third stage, originally called The Lava Stage, which in 2009 became the Sophie Lancaster Stage. In 2010 the capacity of this stage was increased and it became the festival's second stage.
Bloodstock Open Air was conceived as an extension of the original Bloodstock indoor festival which ran from 2001 until 2006 at Derby Assembly Rooms. After an amicable parting in 2006 with his business partner Vince Brotheridge, in 2006 Paul Gregory brought his daughters Vicky Hungerford, Rachael Greenfield and son Adam Gregory on board as directors.
In 2010, Heaven & Hell was scheduled to headline Bloodstock Open Air, but pulled out due to the death of singer Ronnie James Dio. The main stage at the festival was subsequently renamed as the "Ronnie James Dio stage" in tribute to him.
The 2020 festival was planned to be a celebration of "20 years of Bloodstock" however the festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ticket holders were given the option either to have a refund on their ticket or to roll it over to the 2021 festival which saw three stages expanded to include an extra day.
Bloodstock has hosted numerous metal bands from the following countries/dependencies: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Wales, and Guernsey.

Event	Year	Date	Headliners	Notes
1st	2001	28 May	Saxon and Orange Goblin	indoor festival
2nd	2002	31 August	Blind Guardian and Return to the Sabbat	indoor festival
3rd	2003	29–30 August	Saxon and Nightwish	indoor festival
4th	2004	3–4 September	Gamma Ray and Children of Bodom	indoor festival
5th	2005	24–25 June 2–3 September	Sebastian Bach and Children of Bodom HammerFall and Within Temptation	both indoor and open air
6th	2006	14–15 July 29–30 September	Stratovarius and Edguy Primal Fear and My Dying Bride	both indoor and open air
7th	2007	16–18 August	Testament, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, Arch Enemy	became a full open-air festival and extended to three days
8th	2008	15–17 August	Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Nightwish	-
9th	2009	14–16 August	Carcass, Cradle of Filth, Blind Guardian, Europe	-
10th	2010	13–15 August	Twisted Sister, Opeth, Children of Bodom, Fear Factory	main stage named after Ronnie James Dio following his death
11th	2011	12–14 August	Motörhead, Immortal, W.A.S.P.	-
12th	2012	10–12 August	Behemoth, Machine Head, Alice Cooper	-
13th	2013	9–11 August	Slayer, King Diamond, Lamb of God	-
14th	2014	8–10 August	Megadeth, Down, Emperor	-
15th	2015	6–9 August	Rob Zombie, Trivium, Within Temptation	-
16th	2016	11–14 August	Slayer, Twisted Sister, Mastodon	-
17th	2017	10–13 August	Megadeth, Amon Amarth, Ghost	-
18th	2018	9–12 August	Judas Priest, Gojira, Nightwish	-
19th	2019	8–11 August	Scorpions, Sabaton, Parkway Drive	-
—	2020	—	—	cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
20th	2021	11–15 August	Judas Priest, Devin Townsend, Kreator	extra day added for this year
21st	2022	11–14 August	Lamb of God, Behemoth, Mercyful Fate	-
22nd	2023	10–13 August	Megadeth, Killswitch Engage, Meshuggah	-
23rd	2024	8–11 August	Amon Amarth, Opeth, Architects	Lemmy's ashes displayed for the first time
24th	2025	7–10 August	Gojira, Trivium, Machine Head	-
25th	2026	6–9 August	Judas Priest, Saxon, Lamb of God, Slaughter to Prevail	main stage to open for four days

Bloodstock UK Metalfest

Bloodstock originally began as an indoor festival held in Derby Assembly Rooms which ran for six years, 2001 to 2006. In order to associate the festival roots with Derby, where founder Paul Gregory lives, the festival's mascot/logo was based on the tale of The Derby Ram; a beast so large that, when a butcher finally slaughtered it, he drowned in the Ram's blood. A competition was run to name the beast and 'S-tan' was selected, he has appeared on almost all Bloodstock artwork since only missing from the first three BOA festivals when the S-tan snake featured instead.

2001

The first year was a one-day event headlined by Saxon, whom Paul Gregory had known personally since being commissioned to do the artwork for their 1984 Crusader album. Attendance for the festival topped 700 people and, despite taking an financial loss, a second festival was arranged for the following year.

2002

2002 saw Blind Guardian headlining, again a band Paul Gregory knew through producing their artwork, which was their first UK show. Bringing metal acts to the UK for the first time become a regular occurrence for Bloodstock and the stronger line-up which also included Gamma Ray as second billing doubled the festival's attendance to approximately 1500.

2003

2003 brought the first of many expansions to the festival as it stretched across two days. The first day was headlined by a returning Saxon and the second by Nightwish whom like Blind Guardian the year before were playing their first UK show. Paul and Gregory had gone on tour with Saxon the previous year and it was then that Vince first saw Nightwish which convinced them they should be booked for the Bloodstock festival. This year also featured Edguy's first UK show as they were drafted in to replace HammerFall after guitarist Oscar Dronjak broke his arm in a motorcycle accident only weeks before the show. The full line-up was:

Friday 29 August

Main Stage

Saxon

Blaze

Power Quest

5th Man Down

Biomechanical

2004

2004 saw continued growth in attendance with the festival selling out and brought Gamma Ray back to headline the first day and Children of Bodom headlined the second day. The full line-up was:

2005

2005 was the first year which saw both the indoor and outdoor festivals running. HammerFall were booked to play, now with a headline slot on the first day, and Within Temptation headlined the second day. The full line-up was:
† Kyrb Grinder were not originally booked to play, but the band members were working at the festival and delays in the running of the Darwin stage left a gap, so they played a short sell to fill in the gap.

2006

2006 was the last year an indoor festival was hosted allowing for full focus on the outdoor festival from then on. Primal Fear headlined day one with My Dying Bride headlining day two and thus being the last ever band to play at Bloodstock as an indoor festival. The full line-up was:
† Tourettes Syndrome had originally been booked to play the main stage. However, their flight was delayed and they did not arrive in time. Sworn Amongst were bumped up from their scheduled Darwin Stage slot to fill the gap, and Tourettes Syndrome played on the Darwin Stage later in the day when they eventually arrived.

Bloodstock Open Air

Bloodstock Open Air is the outdoor venture for the festival after selling out the indoor festival which had a maximum capacity of 2500. Catton Hall was selected as the venue to allow growth in size without losing the festival's established friendly atmosphere and also maintained its link to Derby.

2005

The festival featured only one stage which was headlined by Sebastian Bach and Children of Bodom.

2006

Bloodstock Open Air 2006 brought in a second stage called simply "Unsigned Stage". This was to showcase new unsigned acts to a wider audience like the indoor festival did previously to on their second stage. Now backed by Wacken Open Air, the festival was able to attract more European metal bands to the line-up which was headlined by Edguy and Stratovarius. It was the last year which had both the indoor and outdoor festivals running together.

2007

Bloodstock Open Air 2007 brought further growth for the festival which now ran over three days and included three stages. The additional stage was named the Lava Stage and allowed more established but smaller acts to perform at the festival. Following a stronger marketing campaign which included advertisement within HMV and greater coverage in music media, attendance at the festival more than doubled from the previous year exceeding 5000 people. The festival's website also went through a major overhaul and the opportunity was given to unsigned bands to upload their videos. Following public voting, Costa Rican band Sight Of Emptiness won and were invited to open the main stage on Thursday. The three mainstage headliners were Testament, Lacuna Coil and In Flames.
BOA 2007 took place from Thursday 16 August to Saturday 18 August. The line up was as follows:

2008

Bloodstock Open Air 2008 took place from Friday 15 August to Sunday 17 August.

2009

Bloodstock Open Air 2009 took place at Catton Hall from Friday 14 August to Sunday 16 August.

2010

Bloodstock Open Air 2010 celebrated the festival's 10th anniversary, and took place between Friday 13 August and Sunday 15 August. The line up was as follows:

Heaven & Hell were booked to headline on Sunday, but pulled out due to Ronnie James Dio's continuing health issues.
* Shortly after Heaven & Hell pulled out, Dio died. The main stage was later renamed the Ronnie James Dio stage in tribute to him.
* Twisted Sister's headline slot was moved from Friday to Sunday to replace Heaven & Hell. Opeth were then booked to fill the Friday headline slot.
Dream Evil were confirmed for the mainstage on Friday, but were forced to pull out due to "personal commitments".
Behemoth were confirmed for the mainstage on Friday, but pulled out due to the hospitalisation of frontman, Adam "Nergal" Darski. Cathedral were announced as their replacements.
The Sophie Lancaster stage was increased in size and became Bloodstock's second stage. It now plays host to larger, more well known bands, as well as DJs, karaoke, film showings, competitions and more.

2011

Bloodstock Open Air 2011 took place at Catton Hall between Friday 12 August and Sunday 14 August 2011. This year the festival had over 10,900 visitors.

Nevermore were booked for the Ronnie James Dio stage, but were removed from the official line up in July. No official explanation was released.
Primevil were booked for the Sophie stage, but were later removed from the official line up. No explanation was released.

2012

Bloodstock Open Air 2012 was scheduled to take place at Catton Hall between Thursday 16 August and Sunday 19 August 2012 ; however, the dates were changed to between Thursday 9 August and Sunday 12 August. This change was never officially explained.

Lock Up were booked to play on the RJD stage on the Friday, but were removed from the lineup. This was later confirmed on the official Bloodstock Twitter page due to logistical problems.
Deicide were booked to play on the RJD stage on the Sunday, but ended up cancelling the whole European tour that BOA was a part of. Because of this Evile were moved from the Sophie Lancaster Stage to the Ronnie James Dio Stage to fill the void.
Anthrax were announced for BOA 2013 before Machine Head's Headline set

2013

Bloodstock Open Air 2013 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 8 August and Sunday 11 August.
Pritchard vs Dainton, Andrew O'Neill & Full Contact Medieval Tournament Combat also appeared at the festival.
*Power Quest's final show before disbanding.

2014

Bloodstock Open Air 2014 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 7 August and Sunday 10 August.
The line-up was:
Prior to Lamb Of God's set at Bloodstock 2013, Emperor were announced for the 2014 event.

Phil Campbell's All Starr Band were booked to headline Thursday on the Sophie stage but withdrew 2 weeks before the festival due to Phil's Motörhead commitments.

Due to Graveyard's flight being delayed, Graveyard and Avatar swapped slots at last minute.

2015

Bloodstock Open Air 2015 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 6 August and Sunday 9 August.
The lineup was:
The sideshow Pritchard vs Dainton also appeared at the festival. The historical battle re-enactment group Battle of the Nations UK have been confirmed.
After Sabaton's set, Venom were announced for the 2016 festival. Also, on the Sunday, Behemoth were announced for BOA 2016 as well.

2016

BOA 2016 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 11 and Sunday 14 August 2016.
The lineup was:

2017

BOA 2017 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 10 and Sunday 13 August 2017.
The lineup was:

2018

BOA 2018 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 9 August and Sunday 12 August 2018.
The lineup was:

2019

BOA 2019 took place at Catton Hall between Thursday 8 August and Sunday 11 August 2019.
The announced lineup was:
Dimmu Borgir were booked to play the Ronnie James Dio stage on Sunday but pulled out due to illness, they were replaced by Batushka.
Code Orange were booked to play the Ronnie James Dio stage on Saturday but pulled out and were replaced by The Wildhearts.
Shvpes were booked to play the Sophie Lancaster stage on Saturday but pulled out and were replaced by Lotus Eater.
Generation Kill were booked to play the Sophie Lancaster stage on Saturday but pulled out and were replaced by Divine Chaos who were also moved up to the Special Guest slot as Skeletal Remains had to pull out as their ferry was cancelled due to bad weather.
Due to windy conditions, the Ronnie James Dio stage was unsafe for use on the Saturday evening, leading to Cradle of Filth being moved to the Sunday, taking Batushka's slot, with Batushka being moved to the Sophie Lancaster Stage, resulting in The Lazys being moved to the New Blood Stage. As well as this, Parkway Drive's and Anthrax's performances were both delayed until the Stage was deemed safe to use.

2020

BOA 2020 was due to take place at Catton Hall between Thursday, 6 August and Sunday, 9 August 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announced lineup at the time of postponement was:
The Black Dahlia Murder were booked to play the Ronnie James Dio stage on Sunday but pulled out of all European summer shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

BOA 2021 took place at Catton Hall between Wednesday 11 August and Sunday 15 August 2021. This is an extra day to the usual length of the festival owing to the postponement of the 2020 event.
Brian Blessed appeared at the festival on Sunday 15 August 2021, Brian announced Saxon onto the stage on the Sunday evening.
Loathe were scheduled to perform on the Ronnie James Dio stage on Friday 13 August 2021 but they pulled out due to a member testing positive for COVID-19, they were replaced by Higher Power
Sylosis were scheduled to perform on the Ronnie James Dio stage on Saturday 14 August 2021 but due to Josh Middleton having to self isolate after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19 at an Architects album release show, they were forced to pull out of the festival.

2022

Bloodstock 2022 took place from 11 to 14 August 2022. 17 bands were announced, including headliners Lamb of God and Saturday Ronnie James Dio stage headliner Mercyful Fate.

Life of Agony had to pull out due to a medical emergency, resulting in Skarlett Riot taking a slot on the main stage.
On the Friday, Machine Head played an hour-long unannounced set on the Sophie Lancaster Stage

2023

Bloodstock Festival 2023 took place on 10–13 August 2023. 8 bands were announced after Testament's set in 2022, including headliners Killswitch Engage and Megadeth.
Russkaja were scheduled to perform but disbanded prior to the festival. Anthrax, Whitechapel, Nonpoint, Unto Others, Striker, Eyes and DevilDriver were also scheduled to perform but withdrew from the festival.
Helloween were scheduled to perform on the Sunday, but were forced to withdraw due to Michael Kiske contracting acute laryngitis. KK's Priest were announced as their replacement.

2024

Bloodstock Festival 2024 took place from August 8th to August 11th, 2024. 14 bands were announced after the In Flames set in 2023, including headliners Amon Amarth and Architects.

2025

Bloodstock Festival 2025 took place on 7–10 August 2025. 19 bands were announced at 2025's festival including all three Ronnie James Dio Stage headliners and all four Sophie Lancaster Stage headliners after Clutch's set.
Lowen stepped in to replace Spirit Adrift a week prior to the festival when the latter pulled out for personal reasons.

2026

Bloodstock Festival will take place on 6-9 August 2026. To coincide with the festival's twenty-fifth anniversary, 25 bands were announced at 2025's festival after Lacuna Coil's set, including all four of the Sophie Lancaster stage headliners and three Ronnie James Dio stage headliners. It was later announced that the Ronnie James Dio stage will open on the Thursday evening, with Saxon set to headline on that day.

Metal 2 The Masses

Metal 2 The Masses is a grassroots battle-of-the-bands style contest run by Bloodstock to spotlight unsigned metal bands. Bands compete in local heats and finals across the UK, with winners earning a slot on the “New Blood” stage across the three days. The scheme was started in 2005 and since then has continued to expand. As of 2026, it is held in the following cities:

Winter Gathering

Every December, Bloodstock holds Winter Gathering at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton. A much smaller, one day, two stage, indoor festival. Featuring, established UK and international metal bands, bands tied to Bloodstock and Metal 2 The Masses and usually a double headliner.