Hellfest Open Air Festival
The biggest metal and extreme music festival in France
About Hellfest
The European temple of metal since 2006
Founded in 2006 by Ben Barbaud and Yoann Le Nevé, the Hellfest Open Air Festival has established itself over two decades as the unmissable event for extreme music lovers in Europe. Heir to the Fury Fest (2002-2005), the festival was born at the Val de Moine sports complex in Clisson, a small wine-growing town 35 kilometers southeast of Nantes, in the Nantes vineyard. What started with 22,000 spectators at the first edition has become an international event attracting over 60,000 festival-goers per day and generating over 35 million euros in economic impact.
Six stages for all shades of metal
Hellfest's uniqueness lies in its ability to bring together all facets of heavy music on six stages. The two Mainstages host international headliners — hard rock, heavy metal, alternative metal — while the four covered stages (The Altar, The Temple, The Valley, and The Warzone) are dedicated to more extreme music: death metal, black metal, doom, stoner, grindcore, hardcore, and punk. This eclectic lineup allows the festival to offer over 180 bands per edition, from living legends to the most daring discoveries.
Over the years, Hellfest has hosted the biggest names in the global metal scene: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Megadeth, Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Slipknot, Muse, Linkin Park, and many others.
A unique immersive experience
Hellfest is more than just its concerts. The 21-hectare site is a true themed universe with a refined aesthetic, dotted with monumental sculptures, decors inspired by metal imagery, and spectacular artistic installations. The Hellfest Corner, a permanent space open all year round, extends the experience with a bar, restaurant, shop, and exhibitions. The festival also offers a campsite that can accommodate tens of thousands of campers, with various options ranging from classic camping to the all-comfort Easy Camp.
A major economic and cultural player
With over 1,500 seasonal employees, Hellfest has become the third-largest festival in France in terms of attendance and the first in terms of revenue among French music festivals. Organized by the association Hellfest Productions, it is a considerable economic driver for the Clisson region and the entire Loire-Atlantique department. The festival is also committed to environmental responsibility with initiatives for waste sorting, reducing its carbon footprint, and raising public awareness.
Hellfest — edition 2026
21st edition of Hellfest in Clisson, from June 18 to 21, 2026. 183 artists scheduled across 6 stages, including 85 bands performing for the first time. Iron Maiden (50 years of career, Run For Your Lives Tour), Bring Me The Horizon, Limp Bizkit and The Offspring are the headliners for the four days, accompanied notably by Megadeth, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, A Perfect Circle, Behemoth, Sabaton, Bad Omens, Architects and Volbeat.
Iron Maiden celebrates 50 years of career at Hellfest 2026
Hellfest 2026 takes place from Thursday, June 18 to Sunday, June 21 in Clisson with 183 artists spread across the festival's six stages (Mainstage 1, Mainstage 2, Warzone, Valley, Altar, Temple), including 85 bands performing for the first time on the sacred ground of Val de Moine. The 4-day passes once again sold out in minutes during the sale on July 8, 2025, even before the full lineup announcement on November 10, 2025. 1-day passes went on sale on February 5, 2026, and also sold out quickly. Official resale has been open on tickets.hellfest.fr since April 29, 2026.
Each day features an exceptional headliner: Bring Me The Horizon opens the festival on Thursday, Iron Maiden — celebrating 50 years of career with the Run For Your Lives Tour focused on their first nine albums — takes over the Mainstage on Friday, Limp Bizkit makes an explosive return on Saturday, and The Offspring closes the festival on Sunday with a special punk rock day.
The lineup brings together genre founders like Deep Purple and Alice Cooper, thrash heavyweights with Megadeth, Anthrax and Sepultura (farewell tour), current sensations like Bad Omens, Architects and Blood Incantation, and long-awaited reunions: Acid Bath and The Dillinger Escape Plan are reforming for the occasion. A Perfect Circle, Tom Morello, Mastodon, Behemoth, Cult of Luna, Amenra, Carcass, Napalm Death, Mayhem, Marduk, Volbeat, Sabaton, Helloween, Opeth, Igorrr, Kadavar and Ultra Vomit complete an exceptional bill mixing legends and discoveries.
The organization confirmed the detailed running order in March 2026, and practical services are operational: official mobile application, Easy Camp accommodation, lockers, cashless payment, Hellcare prevention and accessibility arrangements.
Programme Hellfest 2026
Thursday, June 18, 2026
Mainstage 1 — Bring Me The Horizon (headliner) · Papa Roach · Breaking Benjamin · The Plot In You · We Came As Romans
Mainstage 2 — Deep Purple · Alice Cooper · The Pretty Reckless · Alestorm · Mikkey Dee With Friends
Warzone — Social Distortion · All Time Low · Lagwagon · Shelter · Satanic Surfers
Valley — Kadavar · Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats · The Inspector Cluzo · Elder · Truckfighters
Altar — Igorrr · The Halo Effect · Rivers Of Nihil · Devangelic · Skaphos
Temple — Skald · Feuerschwanz · Borknagar · Winterfylleth · Perchta
Friday, June 19, 2026
Mainstage 1 — Iron Maiden (headliner, Run For Your Lives Tour) · Helloween · Ultra Vomit · Accept · Queensrÿche · Sortilège · Wings Of Steel · Blackrain
Mainstage 2 — Sabaton · Opeth · Sepultura (farewell tour) · Bloodywood · Tesseract · Brothers Of Metal · Return To Dust · Uravena
Warzone — The Dillinger Escape Plan (reformation) · La Dispute · Malevolence · Ceremony · Dying Wish · Point Mort · Die Spitz · Gridiron · Wake The Dead
Valley — Mastodon · Slift · Loathe · Torche · Stoned Jesus · Conjurer · Rezn · Yarostan · Dragunov
Altar — Blood Incantation · Periphery · Decapitated · Sylosis · Sinsaenum · Blood Red Throne · Crypta · Esodic · Impureza
Temple — The Gathering · My Dying Bride · Rotting Christ · Carach Angren · MØL · Einherjer · Ponte Del Diavolo · Killus · Mourir
Saturday, June 20, 2026
Mainstage 1 — Limp Bizkit (headliner) · A Perfect Circle · Tom Morello · Enhancer · Sidilarsen · House Of Protection · Thornhill · Slay Squad
Mainstage 2 — Volbeat · Megadeth · Anthrax · Cavalera "Chaos A.D." · Crisix · Gatecreeper · Escuela Grind · Insanity Alert · Locomuerte
Warzone — Hatebreed · Lionheart · Kublai Khan Tx · Cro-Mags · Trash Talk · Cancer Bats · King 810 · Combust · False Reality
Valley — Cult Of Luna · Amenra · The Young Gods · God Is An Astronaut · Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs · Psychonaut · Fange · Bruit ≤ · Cold.Capsule
Altar — Deicide · Carcass · Septicflesh · Obscura · Severe Torture · Defeated Sanity · Cabal · Profanation · Dvrk
Temple — Behemoth · Old Man's Child · Aura Noir · Oranssi Pazuzu · Gaerea · 1914 · Non Est Deus · Hulder · Vigl&joacute;s
Sunday, June 21, 2026 — special punk rock day
Mainstage 1 — The Offspring (headliner) · The Hives · Rise Against · Pennywise · The Ataris · The Bones · The Dwarves · Not Scientists
Mainstage 2 — Bad Omens · Architects · Three Days Grace · Black Veil Brides · President · Resolve · Revnoir · The Funeral Portrait
Warzone — The Adicts · Agnostic Front · Circle Jerks · Buzzcocks · Drain · End It · Maid Of Ace · Karen Dió
Valley — Down · Acid Bath (reformation) · Corrosion Of Conformity · Eyehategod · Soilent Green · Black Tusk · Gnome · Alta Rossa
Altar — Napalm Death · Possessed · Six Feet Under · Suicidal Angels · Fulci · Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition · Bloodstain · Tempt Fate
Temple — Mayhem · Marduk · Wolves In The Throne Room · Scour · Gehenna · Thy Light · Midnight Odyssey · Silhouette
Detailed running order (stage times) published by the organization on March 24, 2026, available on the official Hellfest app and at hellfest.fr/lineup.
Highlights Hellfest 2026
- 21st edition of Hellfest, 183 artists including 85 new acts across 6 stages
- Iron Maiden headlining for their 50 years of career (Run For Your Lives Tour)
- Reunions of Acid Bath and The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Sepultura's farewell tour
- Four headliners: Bring Me The Horizon, Iron Maiden, Limp Bizkit, The Offspring
- Special punk rock day on Sunday
- Festival sold out: 4-day and 1-day passes exhausted, official resale open on tickets.hellfest.fr
- Over 60,000 festival-goers expected per day
Prices Hellfest 2026
Practical information — Hellfest
Practical Information
Site Access
Hellfest takes place on a dedicated 21-hectare site in Clisson, 35 km southeast of Nantes, in Loire-Atlantique.
- By car: From Nantes, take the N149 towards Clisson (approx. 40 minutes). From Paris, take the A11 motorway then A83 (approx. 4 hours). Parking lots are available near the site.
- By train: Clisson SNCF station, served by TER from Nantes (approx. 30 minutes). Shuttles between the station and the festival site.
- By bus: Special shuttles are provided from Nantes and park-and-ride lots throughout the festival.
Camping
Camping opens on the Wednesday before the festival. Several options are available: classic camping (included in the pass) and Easy Camp (all-comfort accommodation, extra charge). Access to Easy Camp requires a 4-day pass.
Ticketing
4-day passes go on sale on tickets.hellfest.fr, usually in July of the previous year. Tickets sell out in minutes (55,000 passes sold almost instantly for 2026). An official resale platform is available for festival-goers who can no longer attend.
Indicative prices
4-day pass: approx. €329 (2025 price). 1-day pass: available depending on editions. Prices include access to classic camping.
On-site
The festival has numerous food stalls, bars, merchandise stands, rest areas, and water points. Cashless payment is mandatory on site. Lockers, phone charging stations, and first aid stations are available.
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Official website: hellfest.fr
- Ticketing: tickets.hellfest.fr
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Where does it take place — Hellfest
Site du Hellfest — Complexe sportif du Val de Moine
Rue du Champ Louet, 44190 Clisson