THE BLOODSTOCK COUNTDOWN IS ON! 

JUST 46 DAYS TO GO!

With just 46 days to go to BLOODSTOCK, the countdown is ON!  

Tonight, Tuesday 27th June, sees festival directors Adam Gregory and Vicky Hungerford doing a Live Q&A via the festival’s Facebook and Instagram channels, answering punters’ questions about this year’s event. Tune in at 7pm to get all the latest updates and maybe even win some prizes!

The Metal 2 The Masses finals are nearly complete and another nine bands, the cream of the crop in each region, win a slot on 2023’s New Blood stage. Grabbing a Friday slot are Essex’s winners ARMS TO OBLIVION. Check out ‘Tequila Blues’ from the Ipswich groove metallers’ latest EP, ‘Defciylion’. Also appearing Friday are Bristol’s MOON REAPER UK, whose blackened death/doom sound is showcased via ‘Overlord’, which was shot live at their M2TM semi final. 

Saturday’s bill will feature County Durham’s SWARMS whose fat riffs and heavy breakdowns won over the Newcastle heat’s masses. Watch for yourself via ‘Copperhead’ shot during their Trillians set. Also winning a Saturday slot are Kent’s BROKEN CALLING, who blend hardcore, metalcore and nu metal and have picked up airplay from BBC Radio 1’s Alyx Holcombe. Check out their video for ‘S.I.C.K’ and find out why.

Five bands land themselves slots on Sunday’s New Blood stage. London’s SANGUINEM will be bringing their melodic death sounds, including ‘Hate Transfusion’, Birmingham’s NAMELESS will be showcasing their mix of nu metal and hardcore. Watch them play ‘Circus Of Freaks’ live, shot earlier this year.

Deathcore squad DYSTOPIAN SUN grab a slot too, via the North Wales final. Watch an online slaythrough of their track ‘Shadow Of Dread’ from 2021. Also joining Sunday are Hitchin’s tech metal outfit, SENTIENT. The 4-piece serve up a mix of noodly riffs and beefy breakdowns; heavy spaghetti indeed!

Check out ‘Gaslighter’ from their ‘Sentient Is Dead’ EP. On Sunday, the winners of the Poland heat of M2TM, bHP will bring their nu metal sounds to Catton Park. Watch them unleash the mayhem via their video for ‘Crownless’.
Unfortunately, STRIKER have had to pull out of this year’s event, but Birmingham metal squad, FURY slide into a slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage instead. 

BLOODSTOCK is also excited to announce a game-changing addition to this year’s event. In collaboration with event technology provider Preo, BLOODSTOCK is introducing a dedicated one-stop-shop featuring an array of festival essentials. From those all important cold beers to exclusive merchandise through to camping equipment and much more, festival go-ers can secure all their must-have items in advance from one online shop, eradicating the need for last-minute scrambles, long queues or searching in multiple online stores for different items.  For more info and to explore the online shop, please visit the official Bloodstock Festival Preo store

Each year BLOODSTOCK has various dress themes for those who want to participate.  In 2023, we see the return of the very successful ‘Pink For Sylvia’ theme on both Thursday and Friday, in memory of Sophie Lancaster’s mother, the founder of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.  Pink was Sylvia’s favourite colour.  Corpsepaint Saturday does what it says on the tin!  If you don’t want to do your own make up, stop by the Sophie Lancaster charity stall in the main arena and they’ll paint your face for a small donation, with all proceeds going to the Foundation. On Sunday, it’ll be Helloween Pumpkins day, so bust out your best pumpkin-themed attire to welcome the mighty HELLOWEEN

BLOODSTOCK welcomes MESHUGGAH and HELLOWEEN

BLOODSTOCK is renowned for being for the fans, by the fans. HQ listens hard all year round to which bands BLOODSTOCKers want to see at the festival, so this announcement is sure to be a crowd pleaser, adding two of the most heavily requested acts as a new main stage headliner and as a special guest.  If that seals the deal for ordering your tickets, don’t forget the ticket deposit scheme has now launched, letting you spread payment over six instalments. Without further ado… 

BLOODSTOCK’s Saturday night Ronnie James Dio main stage headliner will be the most excellent, Swedish tech metal legends MESHUGGAH; their very first time headlining the festival.  If you’ve never caught them live before, you are in for a treat. Come and see why they are so respected!  The band’s most recent album ‘Immutable’ landed earlier this year, spawning the epic video for ‘I Am That Thirst’, which you can check out here.

Secondly, the revered German power metallers HELLOWEEN, swoop into Sunday’s main stage special guest spot. Check out their video for ‘Best Time’ – taken from last year’s self-titled album – which features a guest appearance from Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz. Markus Grosskopf, bass player & founding member of HELLOWEEN, can’t wait and explains why… “Playing the UK is always something special for us. Back in 1989, the energy and dedication of the British fans was the decisive reason for us to record our first live album ‘Live in the UK’ there, instead of any other country in the world. Our headlining shows in May 2022 once more proved why the UK is the cradle of metal!”

You can also now sign up for the very popular ticket Deposit Scheme!  With payments spread across 6 monthly instalments, it makes it more manageable to pay for your weekend ticket. An initial payment of £34.50 is due upon sign up (which you can do at any time before 21st Feb), then five additional payments of £27.50 will debit your bank account on 28 Mar, 28 Apr, 29 May, 28 Jun, with a final instalment on 28 Jul. Sign up to the scheme here.

In case you missed it, the grass roots music-supporting METAL 2 THE MASSES 2023 programme has begun! If you’re a self-released or unsigned band, throw your hat in the ring to land a slot on BLOODSTOCK’s New Blood stage next August. Regions include MERSEYSIDE (Liverpool), BURNLEY, OXFORD, EAST ANGLIA (Norwich), NORTHANTS (Northampton), CHELTENHAM, BIRMINGHAM, CHESTERFIELD, NORTHERN IRELAND (Belfast), REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (Dublin), SHEFFIELD, HITCHIN, MANCHESTER, MILTON KEYNES, BOURNEMOUTH, LEEDS, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ESSEX (Colchester), KENT (Gravesend), BRISTOL, NORTH WALES (Wrexham), LEICESTER, STOKE ON TRENT, SOUTH WALES (Cardiff), NOTTINGHAM, DEVON & CORNWALL (Saltash), SCOTLAND (heats locally, final in Edinburgh), and LONDON. Not only that, this year, BLOODSTOCK also welcomes back POLAND and NORWAY events and is thrilled to bring in the former Yugoslavia countries, which will be hosting inaugural heats in SLOVENIA, CROATIA, SERBIA and MACEDONIA. The final will be held at the Lomljenje Metalom Open Air event in Croatia.  Full details of all venues and who to contact to enter in each region, can be found here or on Facebook. Heats kick off very soon – apply NOW so you don’t miss out!

BLOODSTOCK’s 2023 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are rounded out by none other than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and MEGADETH. Also appearing are IN FLAMES, DEVILDRIVER, ANTHRAX, BIOHAZARD, SACRED REICH, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, SEPULTURA, WHITECHAPEL, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, CROWBAR, SEETHING AKIRA, UGLY KID JOE, DECAPITATED, GATECREEPER, ZEAL & ARDOR, KING 810, UNTO OTHERS, URNE, ALL HAIL THE YETI, DEAD LABEL, NONPOINT, CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL, BROTHERS OF METAL, GUTALAX, UUHAI, INVISIONS, COBRA THE IMPALER, and TROLLFEST. Many more are yet to be announced. 

With tickets selling faster than ever for 2023, all VIP packages and campervan passes are already sold out. Grab your weekend tickets now at the ticket store.  

Get full festival information at bloodstock.uk.com.

BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 10th-13th August 2023.