Metal horns at the ready folks. Bloodstock is back again, and is ready to rock you like a hurricane. The line up this year is electric, with acts like Sabaton, Cradle of Filth and Scorpions set to take to the stage.
Tickets are still available, with day passes at £69 and weekend passes at £159, so if you want a weekend of pure rocking out, you better nab yours fast.
This guide will give you the lowdown on everything Bloodstock, with information on dos and don’ts, travel, line-up times and more...
When is it?
It runs from August 8 to 11, opening on the Thursday from 5pm until 3am, then 10am to 3am Friday to Sunday.
Where is it?
The same place that it’s been since it became an Open Air festival in 2005 - Catton Park in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire. It was an indoor festival for four years before that, but all the space outdoors now allows them to host three stages.
There is one arena entrance but VIPs can enjoy quicker access to the arena with their own way in.
Tickets can be collected at the box office located just before the walking stretch to the main entrance. Disabled patrons can collect their tickets from the main entrance office. Or, you swanky VIP lot can get yours from the Serpents Lair box office by the VIP area.
I’m coming by car, can I park and how much is it?
Parking is available, but the car park is a 10-minute walk away from the site. There is a shuttle bus that runs to and from the car park from 12:30pm until 11:30pm on Thursday and from 10am until 11:30pm Friday to Sunday.
Car parking passes can be purchased through the Bloodstock site store until the 1st of August at the price of £16.00 per ticket. After this, you will only be able to buy them at the Bloodstock car parking gate on arrival for £20.00. This pass will give you access to the car park from Thursday midday through to 1:00pm Monday.
What if I want to travel by train or coach?
If you’re travelling by train, you can get a Big Green Travel shuttle bus from Lichfield City train station to the festival entrance on Thursday 8th August between 11am to 5pm. You can then catch one back to the station between 7:30am and 12pm on Monday 12th August. This can either be booked beforehand for a £10 return, or paid for on the day for a £12 return.
For those of you coming from further afield, you can get a Big Green Coach from over 34 locations in the UK, which also drop off at the festival on the Thursday and pick up from it on the Monday.
I want to bring some drinks and grub, will they let me?
Unfortunately, no bottles, cans, containers, alcohol or food are allowed into the arena site. However, they do have a huge variety of food and drink traders, with everything from pies to pizza. No piddly sandwiches you’d have packed would match this stuff, so they’re doing you a favour. All vendors use 100% biodegradable packaging, so you don’t have to worry about using too much plastic.
You can also pay a one-off sum of £2 for a recyclable Bloodstock branded cup which can be used across all bars. Not only is this a cool souvenir to take home, but it helps the environment too. Bloodstock will also have drinking water points across the arena and campsites, so you can fill up your own cups, bottles and flasks.
And these are the things you cannot bring to Bloodstock…
Fires and flame throwers
Fireworks
Smoke canisters
Knives
Imitation weapons
Alcohol
Unauthorised photography or recording equipment
Gas appliances or gas canisters
Glass
Dogs
Who is playing?
There are some seriously mega bands this year, ranging from oldies to newbies, as well as all different ends of the metal genre spectrum:
Thursday
Sophie Lancaster Stage
18:00 - 18:30 Barbarian Hermit
18:45 - 19:15 Blind River
19:30 - 20:10 Footprints In The Custard
20:30 - 21:10 Ten Ton Slug
21:45 - 23:00 Rotting Christ
Friday
Ronnie James Dio Stage
10:45 - 11:25 Incite
11:45 - 12:25 Xentrix
12:45 - 13:25 Death Angel
13:45 - 14:30 Metal Church
14:55 - 15:40 Soulfly
16:10 - 16:55 Children of Bodom
17:30 - 18:30 Tesseract
19:15 - 20:15 Powerwolf
21:15 - 22:45 Sabaton
Sophie Lancaster Stage
11:00 - 11:30 Zealot Cult
11:50 - 12:20 Control The Storm
12:40 - 13:10 Blasphemer
13:30 - 14:00 Def Con One
14:20 - 15:00 Bongcauldron
15:20 - 16:00 Damnation's Hammer
16:25 - 17:05 Karybdis
17:30 - 18:10 Sulpher
18:40 - 19:25 Countless Skies
20:00 - 21:00 Raging Speedhorn
22:40 - 23:55 Grand Magus
Hobgoblin New Blood Stage
13:35 - 14:05 Grand Elder
14:15 - 14:45 Tomorrow is Lost
15:00 - 15:30 The Hope Burden
15:45 - 16:15 Blind Divide
16:30 - 17:00 Pravitas
17:15 - 17:45 Marw
18:00 - 18:30 Widows
18:45 - 19:15 Saurr
19:30 - 20:00 Anakim
Saturday
Ronnie James Dio Stage
10:45 - 11:25 Krysthla
11:45 - 12:25 Cancer Bats
12:45 - 13:25 Swallow The Sun
13:45 - 14:30 Evil Scarecrow
14:55 - 15:40 Thy Art Is Murder
16:10 - 16:55 Code Orange
17:30 - 18:30 Cradle of Filth
19:15 - 20:15 Anthrax
21:00 - 22:30 Parkway Drive
Sophie Lancaster Stage
11:00 - 11:30 The Parallax Method
11:50 - 12:20 Odd Crew
12:40 - 13:10 SHVPES
13:30 - 14:00 Guardians Of Time
14:20 - 15:00 Red Method
15:20 - 16:00 Dust Bolt
16:25 - 17:05 Helheim
17:30 - 18:10 3 Headed Snake
18:40 - 19:25 Generation Kill
20:05 - 21:00 Skeletal Remains
22:40 - 23:55 Taake
Hobgoblin New Blood Stage
14:15 - 14:45 Goat Monsoon
15:00 - 15:30 Reaper
15:45 - 16:15 Inferiem
16:30 - 17:00 Scars of Remembrance
17:15 - 17:45 Djinova
18:00 - 18:30 Lock Horns
18:45 - 19:15 Deformation of Man
19:30 - 20:00 Master's Call
Sunday
Ronnie James Dio Stage
10:45 - 11:25 All Hail The Yeti
11:45 - 12:25 Aborted
12:45 - 13:25 Ross The Boss
13:45 - 14:30 Soilwork
14:55 - 15:40 Hypocrisy
16:10 - 16:55 Dee Snider
17:30 - 18:30 Queensryche
19:15 - 20:15 Dimmu Borgir
21:00 - 22:30 Scorpions
Sophie Lancaster Stage
11:00 - 11:30 Harbinger
11:50 - 12:20 Witch Tripper
12:40 - 13:10 Solitary
13:30 - 14:00 Wheel
14:20 - 15:00 Boss Keloid
15:20 - 16:00 Resin
16:25 - 17:05 Crescent
17:30 - 18:10 Violblast
18:40 - 19:25 Bloodred Hourglass
20:00 - 21:00 The Lazys
22:40 - 23:55 Eluveitie
Hobgoblin New Blood Stage
12:00 - 12:30 28 Double
12:45 - 13:15 Fallen Temples
13:35 - 14:05 Bastard
14:15 - 14:45 Elyrean
15:00 - 15:30 Take Refuge
15:45 - 16:15 Aesect
16:30 - 17:00 Fear Bound
17:15 - 17:45 Lost in Lavender Town
18:00 - 18:30 Golden Core
18:45 - 19:15 Setheist
19:30 - 20:00 Damim
