Saxon will play the main stage of Bloodstock Open Air in 2026, marking the first time the Derbyshire heavy metal festival will have four headliners in one year.
The August weekender announced today (September 16) that, for the first time ever, it will open up its main stage on a Thursday. Historically, the day has served as the event’s warm-up day, with only the second stage being open.
Saxon, who headlined the inaugural Bloodstock in 2001, will top the Thursday bill to celebrate 25 years of the festival. It’s also been announced that Evil Scarecrow and Heavysaurus will grace the main stage that day.
24 other bands have been confirmed for 2026, as well. They include Kittie, Castle Rat, Skynd, Graphic Nature, Neckbreakker, Celestial Sanctuary and Mushroomhead.
The new bands join previously-announced main-stage headliners Lamb Of God (who’ll play the Friday), Slaughter To Prevail (Saturday) and Judas Priest (Sunday), as well as second-stage headliners Cryptopsy (Thursday), Wednesday 13 (Friday), Leprous (Saturday) and Carpenter Brut (Sunday).
The likes of Sepultura, Bleed From Within, Orbit Culture, Municipal Waste, 200 Stab Wounds and Nevermore were also previously announced for Bloodstock 2026.
The festival is scheduled to take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire from August 6 to 9. Weekend tickets are still available to purchase, although the festival claims that they are more than 90 percent sold-out. Early-bird, VIP and campervan tickets have already completely sold out.
See the full Bloodstock 2026 poster below.
Bloodstock 2025 took place from August 7 to 10 and was headlined by Trivium, Machine Head and Gojira. Weekend tickets to the event sold out, and day tickets to two of the three days the main stage was open also sold out.
Metal Hammer gave both Trivium and Gojira’s sets perfect five-star scores, with journalist Stephen Hill writing, “Bloodstock 2025 might have been the best yet, and Gojira might just have been the best of the best.”
