Knotfest
Knotfest is a music festival created in 2012 by American heavy metal band Slipknot and their longtime manager and CEO of 5B Artist Management, Cory Brennan. The event has been held both as a destination festival and touring festival in several countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico in North America; Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia in South America; Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom* in Europe, Japan in Asia; and Australia.
Aside from Slipknot, Knotfest has featured a diverse alumni of past performers including metal acts Korn, Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold, Limp Bizkit, Lamb of God, Gojira, Judas Priest, Bad Omens; Hardcore bands Turnstile and Knocked Loose; Hip-Hop acts $UICIDEBOY$ and Ghostface Killah and many more
History
Creation
Knotfest was officially announced on June 4, 2012. Among the activities, the festival offered as part of its "dark carnival experience" were circus big-top tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, firebreathers, stilt walkers, drum circles made of junkyard cars and graffiti walls. The two shows also debuted a Slipknot museum."It's all about having fun and going crazy, bringing it to the standard it used to be," Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan told Rolling Stone. "It's time for us to really engulf this idea known as Knotfest where we're in control, we make a day devoted to our mindset, our ideas, the people that we want to play with, the people that we think our fans want to be around... When everyone leaves their senses overloaded, and I'm talking about smells, sights, hearing, your body, everything is overloaded with stimulation, because that's what Slipknot does."
The inaugural Knotfest was a two-city event and took place on August 17, 2012, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and August 18, 2012, in Somerset, Wisconsin. Among the line-up were bands such as Deftones, Lamb of God, and Cannibal Corpse. On March 24, 2014, it was officially announced that "Knotfest Japan" would be held in November 15 and 16 at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo. Headliners were Slipknot, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Lamb of God, Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Bring Me the Horizon, Trivium and In Flames. On the first date of the Mayhem Festival 2014, Knotfest 2014 was announced, with it being held at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California, on October 24–26. Knotfest 2015 was to be held at the same location, from October 23 through 25. In December 2019, it was announced that Knotfest would be held in the United Kingdom for the first time in 2020.
Broadcast
On July 11, Slipknot announced that their closing performance at Knotfest would be broadcast via a pay-per-view streaming website. Shawn "Clown" Crahan said, "It means everything for everyone to see the live spectacle we're creating in the flesh, but we understand some fans around the world can't be at the show. We've now made it possible for you to be there in spirit - so join us live on August 18."Website
On May 27, 2020, Slipknot and 5B Management relaunched the Knotfest website as a "global media hub" for news, interviews and more.Knotfest launched Hardlore: Stories from Tour hosted by Colin Young and Bo Lueders on March 22, 2022. The series is routinely in the Top 25 of Music Podcast charts and the top weekly heavy music podcast
The Knotfest site is home to She's With the Band, a weekly podcast hosted by Tori Kravitz that focuses on women in the music industry.
In addition, Knotfest is the home to the guitar driven interview series, Defender of the Riff hosted by Daniel Dekay which has appeared live at Blue Ridge Rock Festival and will be appearing at Download Festival in 2025; as well as the behind the scenes docu-series Beyond the Breakdown hosted by Tori Kravitz.
Performers
2012 line-up
2014 line-up
California
Japan
2015 line-up
California
Mexico
2016 line-up
"Ozzfest Meets Knotfest" California
Mexico
Japan
2017 line-up
Mexico
Ozzfest Meets Knotfest 2017
2018 line-up
Colombia
Mexico
Canceled due to lack of organization.2019 line-up
Knotfest meets Hellfest 2019 France
Knotfest Roadshow 2019 USA & Canada
Knotfest meets Forcefest 2019 Mexico
Colombia
2021
Iowa
Knotfest Roadshow USA
Los Angeles
2022
Knotfest Roadshow USA & Canada
was announced to appear in the first leg, but cancelled due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, their homeland.| March 16 - April 17 | May 18 - June 18 | September 20 - October 7 |
Slipknot In This Moment Wage War | Slipknot Cypress Hill Ho99o9 | Slipknot Ice Nine Kills Crown the Empire |
Germany
Finland
Knotfest Roadshow Argentina
Colombia
Chile
Brazil
2023
Australia
- Bad Omens pulled out of the Melbourne show on 24 March due to their vocalist Noah Sebastian losing his voice.
Japan
Italy
2024
Australia
Iowa
Brazil
Argentina
Chile
2025
Australia
Mexico
PULSE OF THE MAGGOTS
Knotfest launched Pulse of the Maggots as an emerging artist series that has featured three digital festivals, one in-person festival, and one showcase at South by Southwest in 2023. The Pulse of the Maggots brand also appears as naming on stages at full Knotfest festivals including Knotfest Finland 2022 and Knotfest Iowa 2024.Pulse of the Maggots Festival 2020
| NOV 13, 2020 |
| Hacktivist October Ends PRXJEK Cerberus Orbit Culture Tallah dEMOTIONAL Vended SCARLET Year of the Knife Introtyl Wargasm Diamond Construct VCTMS Death Blooms Death Tour Thrown into Exile Once Awake 156 Silence I Revolt |
Pulse of the Maggots Festival 2x21
| June 25, 2021 |
| Hyro the Hero As Everything Unfolds Lotus Eater Gaerea Baest Elyne Abbie Falls Cult of Lilith Capra Earthists Pupil Slicer Superbloom Druid |
| March 11, 2022 |
| Shadow of Intent Brutus Creeping Death Vexed Enforced Kid Bookie Witch Fever Bala Dödsrit Four Stoke Baron Blanket Wowod Knoll thoughtcrimes Urne Akiavel Moon Unit Dumah |
Pulse of the Maggots Festival: Birmingham 4x22
| August 10, 2022 |
| Sylosis Orbit Culture Heriot SpiritWorld Rough Justice All Hail The Yeti Thrown Into Exile Cauldron |
Pulse of the Maggots Showcase: SXSW 5x23
| March 18, 2023 |
| The Callous Daoboys Creeping Death Escuela Grind Miliatrie Gun Soul Glo VCTMS |