Submitted by Dan McConomy
HELLFEST the dream of two young men, Ben and Jerome, started in a field in the French countryside of Clisson in the western part of France 19 years ago. The humble beginnings of the first edition of Hellfest was put together by their non-profit association that still exists as a non-profit to this very day. It drew about 300 people basically from the surrounding community to 60,000 per night today from around the world in its 19th year as of today.
There were no superstars on the bill to start, just a humble list of regional acts that launched a journey that has now become the 20th year on the highway to HELLFEST.
The first few years were a struggle with rainouts, generators catching fire, headliner cancellations, and general chaos that would discourage anyone but not these two metal warriors. In 2007, they brought in Olivier Garniers, an industry Heavy Metal Public Relations professional that got them bigger acts, more organization. The festival suddenly had real headliners such Korn, Slayer and Mastodon. However, the day of the concert the rain Gods had decided to pummel the grounds to near decimation. One of the headliners walked away and refused to play. Just as one of the others were about to do the same Mastodon said to the other band, we are here to play for these fans that have been waiting all weekend rain or shine as it says on the tickets they purchased to see us play! The other band,Slayer, stayed and played as well on that premise. That very moment saved HELLFEST and helped it become what it is today. If the promoters would have had to reimburse the fans that fateful night, they would not have survived another year.
The following year, the big gun promoters were looking to buy HELLFEST, the late Gerard Drouot (Iconic French Promoter Drouot Productions) and Live Nation were both vying to acquire the festival as their own. Both giants were there for the 2008 HELLFEST observing the organization and analysing the next steps. In a meeting after the Festival, Ben let them both know they he could never sell the name or the festival to them because it was a non-profit organisation. While Live Nation fled, Gerard proposed to buy the brand HELLFEST and in return would put up the high-priced guarantees it would take to go the next step and afford any headliner HELLFEST envisioned. Ben agreed to the deal and in 2010 the festival went legit by having mega headliners KISS, ALICE COOPER and DEFTONES.
The metal community appears to the world outside as a dark daunting landscape full of loud horror filled adventure into the abyss but in reality, it is a place where your age, your looks, your beliefs, your religion, your sexual preference, your politics, your position in life is irrelevant and you are part of a music ecosystem that represents the freedom of expression in every sense of the word. The HELLFEST secret sauce adds another dimension to this equation by inviting bands that represent the old generation and new generation in one big village for four consecutive festival days.
The Main Stage 1 & 2 has 60,000 maniacs experiencing concerts by megastars from around the globe that you would pay a fortune to see individually. This year it was MEGADETH (on their farewell tour) that put on a tremendous concert. IRON MAIDEN who mesmerized. LIMP BIZKIT who rolled out their best foot and ALICE COOPER who made everyone understand why they are still one of the best bands on earth.
The Altar & Temple host mostly the iconic and upcoming death and black metal bands in tents that host about three thousand wicked souls per performance. SKALD, THE GATHERING, DEICIDE, ROTTING CHRIST, and NAPALM DEATH were the talk of the town this edition.
The WAR ZONE stage is full on the punk and alternative metal pioneers and newbies such as CIRCLE JERKS, AGNOSTIC FRONT, HATEBREED, and SOCIAL DISTORTION.
The VALLEY stage is home to the indie rock scene with bands like SLIFT,
CULT OF LUNA, MASTODON, and KADAVAR getting the acclaim for their performances this year.
There is something for everyone in this four-day village called HELLFEST.
In years past I came to the festival as an industry person running around backstage to coordinate the appearance of the artist I represented and shaking hands with industry giants. What I always noticed at that point was the care and professionalism of the organization itself and people like Olivier Garnier, Head of Press, for HELLFEST along with the hundreds of local volunteers who make it all a pleasant experience was always impressive for such mega-festival.
This year the assignment was of a different nature. What is the HELLFEST experience? I took the first train out from Paris to Nantes at 7:49am. Stepped off the train to find the entire station of the city covered by HELLFEST posters, merchandise in the shops and its very own entrance to the local train to Clisson where the festival is held. Upon arrival we had to stand in line for the shuttle to take us to the site. I was dreading the wait, but it was only about 20 minutes until the shuttle line dwindled so I happened to get a shotgun seat to the site. The 3.50 euros fees were reasonable, and the ride safely got us there in 15 minutes. As you walk to the venue you can feel the buzz of anticipation from everyone around you.
Arriving at the venue you see the newly unveiled statue of OZZY OSBOURNE by an artist unknown to me beforehand (Pascal Pasqua) at the entrance. Unfortunately, Sharon Osbourne was hospitalised and was unable to attend the unveiling of it. When you are standing in that exact spot you instantly understand that you have come home somehow to your people, your tribe, your village for four days.
So, when I arrived, it was the familiar access to media/VIP area where industry types gather to breathe in between Main Stage appearances by such acts as Megadeth, Anthrax, Sabaton and buzz about the discoveries of new artist that performed on the smaller stages. So, I said my hello to my industry friends and then set out to experience it all from ground level.
My first mission was to get a cup of java or two in me to kickstart my day since they only serve alcohol in the VIP/Press area. Heading to the nearest coffee counter, I ran into a magnificent statue in Metal (another Phillipe Pasqua creation) and promptly posted Welcome to Hell! On my socials. It is a magnificent work that merited recognition. However, when I get to the counter just to find out that the entire venue is now a cashless society. So, the euros in my pocket were not able to get me the desperate cup of coffee I needed. The lady at the counter kindly explained that you can add money on your badge directly by the app or by the cashless counters that are everywhere on the premises. So, I found the nearest cashless counter traded in my cash for credits and I was back on track to complete the coffee expedition. So, I got my two cups, found some shade smoked my Craven A and took in the restaurant row that had every kind of food made available including Vegan.
As I listened to conversations around me it was a melting pot of French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish and Italian peeps that was so intriguing to comprehend this had become a truly international festival that attracted people from all over the world. Not many Canadians here but maybe next year since the United States has become a less attractive destination.
My ‘cannot miss’ from the festival was away from all the stages in Hell City Square where one could think they suddenly parachuted into a pirate land on the back lot of Movie studio with vibrant bars, shops and stands. At the very edge it all is SAVAGE LANDS, an environmental driven situation where I went to see an acoustic performance by SAVAGE LANDS featuring Dirk Verbeuren from Megadeth, Alissa White-Gluz (ex-Arch Enemy), Etienne Terton (Black Bomb A), and co-founder Sylvian Demercastel. Had no idea it was all what it was. I went into the merch stand next to the stage and spoke with a volunteer, Anais, who made me discover the truth that this was more of an enviromental protection movement created by Dirk and Sylvain than a band. This year the goal was to plant 10,000 new trees around HELLFEST grounds to protect the community but also shed light globally by doing not talking as they had planted 1,500 trees the year prior. By the time I had fully digested the situation when I turned to go the front of the stage and take in the performance 300 people had showed up in from of the stand and copletely blocked my view. As an industry person I would normally just slip backstage and take in the performance from that perspective but that was not what I was here to do. So I headed to the back fence and climbed up, wedged myself between the fence and a lamp pole to get a view of the concert from the back. The performance was great. The crowd was into it. The envirormental message was even more applauded than the music itself but the fans where there to support the cause. It dawned on me at that moment more than ever that the metal community actually gives a damn about real issues independent of country, faith, or politics..
The Rock Hard magazine France stand was right across the way so I made my to find that people that founded it France are actually there and enjoying the faithful coming to the stand to get a copy of the magnificent OZZY special edition. It was refreshing to see that the people in metal industry are always as passionate as they have ever been about the music, the artists.
But here is where it got really interesting and insightful for me on a human level. I headed over to the Metal Corner for the apero (Happy Hour for us Canadians) around 5pm. Everyone was chilling having their first drink of the day as the headliners loomed on the mainstage performances. Ran into my friends from Circle Pit who actively support up and coming metal acts and attend the festival annually to get away from their upscale realities and truly live their metal music passion. They were in a meeting with some peeps. So I starting chatting to eveyone else around me. This woman Caroline that was local said to me that her Mom brought her to HELLFEST at their very beginnings and it has become a generational thing. Her mom still attends to see the bands she loves as well as her coming to see her favorites that are completely not the same niche. So therein is the magic of
HELLFEST you can come here for four days with your grandmother, your father, your older brother or younger brother and all have an amazing time loving the bands you love individually and return to the camp site at three in the morning and tell tall tales of how great your bands were and never conflict over their opinions.
With the 20th Anniversary edition of HELLFEST coming up in 2027. Ben Barbaud, Co-founder of HELLFEST announced this week that they are adding four more stages (RIOT, CRYPT, FORGE, and ABYSS) for the 20th anniversary edition that are yet to be decided with over 300 bands over four days. To me this means they are doubling down on the premise that I discovered on my journey in the 2026 edition of Hellfest is that diversity makes the festival able to expand into the future by keeping the past and present intact whch attracts the entire metal community worldwide to attend.
See you there and if you really want to attend and I do recommend it the tickets go on sale on Tuesday, July 7, 2026,here: https://tickets.hellfest.fr/