METALFEST is entering its 15th season! The traditional metal start of the festival summer in PILSEN will be full of stars!
The popular international metal festival METALFEST OPEN AIR, which starts the summer festival season in PILSEN every year at the beginning of June, has announced the first batch of confirmed bands for its 15th edition, which will take place in the Lochotín Amphitheater from Friday, June 5th to Sunday, June 7th, 2026!
Festival passes at a super introductory price are on sale, as are places in campsites and parking lots. A hot new feature is the possibility of purchasing comfortably furnished tents in the CHILL VILLAGE tent city, with a number of services and free parking!
And who will arrive at the 15th edition of METALFEST?
AVANTASIA – Tobias Sammet’s amazing and always breathtaking metal opera, AVANTASIA will bring to PILSEN not only their bombastic, tenth studio album “Here Be Dragons” but also all their world-famous hits, in their biggest and most epic festival show ever! AVANTASIA, the project of master Tobias Sammet and his perfect musical rendition of visions, dreams and breathtaking journeys into fantasy, enchanting choirs and catchy symphonic-metal storytelling in a totally immersive, colorful show that you will never forget! At METALFEST 2026 in PILSEN!
SEPULTURA – the last festival show in the Czech Republic! The famous Brazilian metal icon SEPULTURA celebrated a respectable 40 years on the world metal scene and said goodbye to active playing and traveling around the world on a very strong, emotionally charged tour. Next summer they want to say goodbye to their festival life and for their last festival performance they have chosen the Pilsen METALFEST! This will be a big one! Don't miss the opportunity to see and hear the greatest hits of the famous SEPULTURA once again, live for the last time!
ANTHRAX - After a great performance at Ozzy’s farewell concert in Birmingham, ANTHRAX are announcing their return to European stages! You will see them at the Pilsen´s METALFEST! ANTHRAX are responsible for the fromation of speed and thrash metal. According to Rolling Stone, ANTHRAX were one of the few heavy metal bands that received praise in the 80s and managed to redefine the genre. Their musical style is unmistakable. Fast, aggressive, thunderous. They managed to use many different musical directions in their musical creation. They incorporated heavy metal, punk, grunge and darker alternative styles, but the main and always most prominent was, is and will be classic thrash metal. ANTHRAX influenced a number of other great bands, such as Pantera, Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse, Testament, Slipknot, Death Angel, Korn and many others. Their sources of inspiration never run out, and despite many changes in the lineup and musical concept, they still remain a solid and powerful force, whose live performances always leave a completely stunning and indelible impression!
ACCEPT – 50th Anniversary show – German heavy metal legend ACCEPT will celebrate its fantastic 50th anniversary at METALFEST 2026! On the occasion of this huge milestone, the band will celebrate its golden birthday not only with a completely unique anniversary tour with very carefully selected cities, but also with an anniversary album, which will be released in early 2026! ACCEPT has successfully shaped entire generations of metal musicians and fans and with their unmistakable sound belongs in the metal hall of fame! A fantastic metal journey through time in a breathtaking stage show awaits you at METALFEST in PILSEN. All the biggest hits and heavy metal classics will be played, as well as songs that have rarely or almost never been played live! And maybe there will be surprise guests…
You will also see the audience favorite, Peter Tägtgren with his industrial-metal parade PAIN, swiss hard-rock star GOTTHARD or the increasingly admired undead band DOMINUM. ECLIPSE FREEDOM CALL, SOEN, BEYOND THE BLACK, CREMATORY, ORPHANED LAND, CHARLOTTE WESSELS, CRYPTA, APRIL ART, EMIL BULLS and TRI STATE CORNER, SEASONS IN BLACK, SOVENGAR, NEVERLAND, SOLAR SYSTEM have also confirmed their participation.
Other bands will gradually be added, but it is already clear that the 15th edition of METALFEST will go down in history very significantly and we hope with a record number of you, the fans on site! Let's create a new milestone together for this great start to the metal festival summer in PILSEN!
Pilsen's METALFEST OPEN AIR opens the festival summer of 2026 with a big bang! Be there!
