HellFest Open Air 2026 Full Coverage

Thursday, June 18th

Another year has passed, it is time again to go to what I call “second home”. Nothing beats being surrounded by thousands of people who have one thing in common, the same love & passion for metal music.
I decided to go to leave early to Clisson, wanted to beat the heat (spoiler: fail) and it had been forever that I had the time to walk around at Hell Square and the Metal corner.
So much has changed! When Hellfest is not happening, the terrain is open for everyone to walk in like a park, so they built a playing ground for kids. I can understand why they did place a fence around it, you never know with drunk metalheads who feel the need to climb it, haha! Many people were already queueing to be the first to enter the gates to Hell… Or maybe they wanted to be first at the merch? You know you wait longer then 5 min to pass through, more about that later.
The queen watcher, was already waiting for us also, but remember, her domain, her rules.
For the rest I saw a lot of familiar things, the hell stage, the metal market, little stores like ESP guitars, you could also get a tattoo and for the thirsty people among us (ok it was hot also), several bars. I saw you could also make your own sunglasses. Walked further to the Metal corner, I thought a band was about to play, but no, it was some kind of (metal) yoga that was about to start. To my surprise, many people showed up!
Better be safe than sorry, learned from my mistake from last year. First some food before you forget you need to eat also! I went for the veggie poutine; I think I couldn’t have picked a better dish! Really loved it. I love how they have food for the carnivores but also for people who are vegetarian, vegan or intolerant. No one needs to starve. Finding a place to eat & drink wasn’t easy, especially if you want shade. The place was quite packed already.
Decided to go my way back and made some videos of the places, then I went to the entrance again to wait till VIP would open and of course the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy was welcoming us all with his huge statue.
Time to meet the fellow press friends in the VIP and catch up as for most it has been in a year that I saw them. While time passes it is almost 4PM, which means the first band will officially kick off the festival!
While getting out of the VIP to go to the mainstage we see a wall of people queueing to get their favorite merchandise from the festival. I heard the waiting time was 5 hours (!!!).
Cheers to the warriors who waited so long in that heat.

First band on is We came as Romans, a lot of people already gathered before the mainstage, they were a nice opener. Not really my kind of music, but as long as the other people dig it.

After photo duty I never have much time to keep watching a gig, so I head over my way to the Altar for the first band there. Skaphos, not bad for opening the tents.

In the Temple Perchta will play, I sadly missed the gig at Inferno, but getting a second chance now, I remember the singer looked really cool on stage, witchy vibes and today I can finally enjoy a bit of the music too.

Next band on the second mainstage is Mikkey Dee with friends, of course he had to play some Mötorhead, which everyone was obviously waiting for and he told some stories about Lemmy. Always nice to hear such things!
The rest of my weekend will exist out of heading over to these 4 stages, The Warzone & Valley, are not really my kind of music and well let’s say it is quite a walk, between the whole crowd, I would never make it to shoot all the stages. But to give you an idea, Valley is mostly stoner music and Warzone is mostly punk related bands and any substile that has the word “core” in it.

The plot In You, I love shooting bands at festivals that I don’t know or who aren’t my style, but from one song it is kind of difficult to have an opinion about the band.

The Pretty Reckless I was interested in seeing, and they did not disappoint me. I love how she said “We are all going to Hell”. I was rather convinced we were there already not only the name of the festival, but also the weather was Hellish!

Think I saw Breaking Benjamin before, fun to shoot them but as I mentioned, these kinds of bands aren’t really my style so hard to judge a book by its cover.

Rivers of Nihil were ok, in my head I thought they were quite a different band so I was a bit confused. Was looking forward to finally see a glimpse of Borknagar again. Been a year since I saw them and let’s not talk about that gig ever again, sorry but no words. This time on the other hand, they were really good! Just when I told my friend “I wonder when they will play Colossus?”, the notes started, like it was meant to be!

The Halo Effect, while waiting to enter the pit we saw Mikael Stanne walking around backstage and we might have mentioned it too loud, but he heard us say his name and said hi, super nice guy! I have to be honest hear, I like this band way more, it gave me a nice vibe.

Shame I had to head over to the mainstage, but I could have listened to a few more songs.
While waiting for Alice Cooper, Papa Roach was on stage, only 20 photographers were allowed to shoot them, and I was not among them so I just watched the gig. I remember from last time they gave quite a show and it was fun, this time was no different apart from the fact he brought his son on stage to sing a song with him. And sorry Jacoby, but you have competition! So young and damn what this kid did! I’m sure his dad was very proud of him.
He has talent to become the next big thing!
Alice Cooper, another guy who is immortal! From the same year as my mom and he seems to have more energy and flexibility then me. Always a joy to see him at work!

Igorrr, very special music in my opinion, but really cool to see and the French seem to love it, the tent was very packed. Also, the female singer is always looking very cool on stage! Last band of the evening, Feuerschwanz, what an energy on stage! Shame that the stage is so high, I still might repeat that a few times, sorry in advance, but I’m only the size of a hobbit.
Fun group, but it would be nicer to see them on the mainstage with all the fire, it gives extra! And so, ends the first day already of Hellfest. Back to Nantes with the shuttles to the train station and then on the night train. BEST invention a festival ever did !!!

Friday, June 19 th

Early arrival at the fest, for some reason I thought bands started at 10am but it was 10.30am. Oh well, at least I had a few hours of sleep.
As I’m early and have to wait, I decide to go and take a look in the VIP bar at the “fallen ones” wall. Sadly, it is filled with portraits of fallen musicians who played the festival before.

The wall is getting quite packed, I do NOT like that! Latest “addition” is of course the Prince of Darkness himself.

First band opening today is Uravena, a band from Tahiti using traditional Polynesian instruments, something I find always very interesting! I feel likes it gives not only and extra touch to metal, but something new, something fresh! Check these guys out, or regret.

The next band is not your typical metal band either Impureza, using flamenco elements combined with metal, I feel this day will become special and interesting with all these bands.
Really enjoying these none typical metal bands!

Blackrain, I discovered at Hellfest a few years ago, so it was nice to see them play again, and they are still as good as I remembered.

Off to the next band, Mourir, for people who don’tunderstand French, mourir means dying. With a name like that I expected a lot, but sadly I was kinda left on my hunger. It was not bad, just expected more.

Wings of Steel had a bad start, the mic was off, but the singer kept on going like nothing was wrong, when I guess the guy or women at the PA finally got the mic working, the crowd was cheering they heard a voice! For me this band is a typical heavy metal band, not bad but not standing out either.

And now towards a band, I didn’t know would become the discovery of the day for me, Killus, an industrial metal band from Spain, for some reason I had Sweden in mind but that might have to do with their cover from Abba at the end which was genius!!! These guys blew me away with not only their music, but also their energy on stage. As a photographer, that is the perfect band to ask for, they really played with the camera from first till last note.

Another technical issue of the day was Crypta, sadly again something wrong with the mic, but Fernanda Lira, kept on going and giving it all. When the issues were solved, again the audience was cheering they could finally hear the song. This is an all-female band and damn, they are good! I have a weakness for drums and when there is a woman behind it, you bet I will do all in my hobbit power to get photos of it!

Because of my sun allergy which is going pretty bad, vampire skin what do you want? I decide to stay in the tents and avoid the mainstage for a while, even though there were a whole bunch of bands I was interested in shooting. So I went to Ponte Del Diavolo, the singer, a woman, she knew how to play the audience and our cameras. Was not bad but also not something I really dig.

Blood Red Throne is a bad I have seen in every line up possible. Some of the old members are people who became friends and I still have contact with once in a while. Of the current line up, I recognize only two people left who were in the band before, one of them being the founder. It was nice to hear the songs again but after so many different singers, it is so weird for me to hear yet another voice, but hey the guy does do a great job! Arterial Lust will forever be my favorite song by them, so it was great to hear that once more.

Einherjer is a band I haven’t seen in a long time, so it was nice to finally see them again live!
And I directly spotted that their clothes were designed by none less than my dear friend Kim of Kylla Custom Rock Wear. The next band I want to see (read: Accept) was wearing clothes designed by her as well as a few other bands that will still play this festival. But first Bloodywood, another band who uses traditional instruments mixed with metal, saw them before and sadly too late to shoot them but I took a moment to just sit down, relax and listen to some nice music!

Accept opening with Metal Heart was such a nice thing! For some reason I always discover
classic songs through covers from other bands, this song was no different, finally hearing it
live (can’t recall I did in the past or have forgotten), was a nice gift!

The next band is a band that I have been listening to since I was a teenager, the moment I
was old enough to go see them, they changed singer and well Max had his own voice so for
me it was weird to hear someone else sing these songs. But last year I saw Sepultura on 70k
of metal and forgot there had been another singer, today Derrick once showed he is more
than worthy to replace. The energy, the vibe, those old songs, it just took me back to being a
teenager, thank you for that! Sepultura will be missed.

Last time I saw Helloween, I recall one singer? This time there were two on stage, why not?!
I certainly found it something nice and cool.

Must have been forever since I saw Decapitated live, but they still have it! Good live band.

And now the first Greeks of the festival (for me don’t know if there were others), Rotting Christ, always a joy to see these guys on stage! Still full of energy. Only saw a small part of the set, but looking forward to enjoy more later this summer in Bergen!

Well, I always said I had seen Iron Maiden enough, I saw them once just too many times in a year and I have to admit, I only like the classics. But now I was in for 2 hours of them before the next and final band of the evening. Even though it was a moment for me to just sit down and relax after running around for a whole day, it does something to you when you hear a full festival area singing along to the most famous songs. It still gives me goosebumps writing this thing of that fact. The show was quite a thing to see on the other hand!

And then, the Swedes I hadn’t seen in a while, but always such a joy to experience live, none less then Sabaton! Was nice to hear them opening with Ghost Division, directly going for 100% fun! The whole show was quite a thing. But since I was tired and still a few days to go, I decided to leave after a few songs. While going to the exit I bumped into two women who were dancing with fire sticks on the building that stands in front of the Altar & Temple stages. On the back you can stand there and they were giving a show. For some reason, instant “From dusk till dawn” vibes! They could as well have turned into vampires. In my head I could hear the song from the movie, so cool to see!
This would be a late train (the line at the shuttles were HUGE!!!), and short sleep because Saturday line up was already calling.

Saturday, June 20 th

Early bird again, I like to check out the opening bands also. Locomuerte was just the perfect opener! These guys are insane! Fun to see, lots of energy and lyrics in a language I did not understand! But it sounded fun, that is what counts. Next up Dvrk, not bad for a start.

Vigljos, what a discovery is this??? I just fell in love with their costumes alone. Might be I’m a
small-town girl and it just reminds me of home. But this and the music, wow!
At this point, I decided again I didn’t want to suffer more sun allergy and decided to stay in the tents, trust me, there might been have shade but you felt like being in a sauna the whole time. I was never so happy to see my shower at the end of the day. Still sad again as I had some bands marked on the mainstages I wanted to check. Another time I guess?!
Another band on my list to see, Profanation, not bad!

The next band I had seen already in Oslo but due lack of time and space in the small venue, I took some time to watch them here, Hulder did not disappoint.
I thought I would be done by now by discovering bands, because mostly it is just one or two bands, but here is yet another amazing discovery, Non Est Deus, Sunday mass came a day earlier it seems.

How cool was this?! Later on, I discovered it is the guys from Kanonenfieber and for some reason I wasn’t surprised at all, I had the feeling I “knew” these people even though you can’t see their faces. Hope to see more of this band.

Ok, so I did go see one band on the mainstage and that was Gatecreeper, I saw them at
Psycho Las Vegas a few years ago and they blew me away! So, I had to go and see them on
European soil!

1914, is a band rather you like or not, you just got and see to support! I have to say I enjoyed them more this time then a few months ago. What I also noticed is that during their gig I saw the military walking around, police are a regular thing, this wasn’t. I have a feeling it was to ensure them? Never saw them again during the fest…

Gaerea I saw the first time a few years ago at Hellfest, and it was really nice to see them there again, you can see how much this band has grown! They were good then, they were way better now.

Sadly Cavalera “Chaos A.D.” had to cancel due an accident towards the festival. I hope all is well with them and nothing too bad happened. They were already the 3 rd band that day who cancelled; Volbeat did a while before the fest which Behemoth would replace on the mainstage, I was kind of sad for that, I liked the coziness from the tent, but they deserve the biggest stage out there! Killer band! And Tom Morello had to cancel also, due personal circumstances.

The next band I was about to experience, even when I write this now, I’m still confused by them. Must have been the weirdest band I saw this weekend, namely Oranssi Pazuzu, they certainly lived up to their genre psychedelic.
Time for more Greeks, what can I say? Always a joy to see SepticFlesh on the stage also!
Always full of energy also, must be the Greek air?

Aura Noir, who call themselves the “ugliest band in the world” and I have to laugh when they added “and now also the oldest & fattest band in the world”. Did they even check the bill of this festival? They are young compared to certain other bands. But great as always.

Old Man’s Child, hadn’t seen them in over more then 25 years or something? This year I have seen them twice and not regretting it! Nice to see Galder back on stage again with this band.

Sunday, June 21 st

Little warning, we got: alcohol ban due the temperatures, first people thought this was the festival their decision, but afterwards I heard from a friend in Paris, this is the rule by the government made for the whole of France!
Free water was available and instead of carrying around beer, they did it with water, to make sure people stayed hydrated.
Can you believe this is the last day already??? I can’t, but my sleeping hours will be happy, day 4 and I’m at 15 hours of sleep of the whole festival? Oh well, we can sleep when we are dead, I guess, unless the after life is like this, then there is not time to sleep either!

Let’s start the day with The Funeral Portrait, again a nice opening band and they pulled the crowned along even on this unholy hour. I have to say I felt a bit sad & annoyed when the singer said a manager told him he was “too fat” to become a rockstar. Glad you proved him wrong and stood one of the biggest metal festivals in Europe! Never knew metal was a beauty contest?!

You won’t believe it, but today would be the hottest day of the whole festival, and it was
already “hell” (fest), see what I did there?
So sadly, no mainstages for me again, I was too afraid to get a heat stroke and faint and if
there was one day, I had to stay good it was today! Later about that why.

So, Altar & Temple it was again today. Midnight Odyssey, was a band with no drummer but a drum computer. Like I said, I’m a drum person. So this felt very weird for me but then again, if you are a one man band, I can understand that it might not .be easy to find a drummer in time, there aren’t as many as guitar players it seems (this is NO offense to guitar players by the way). This was not bad.

Was looking forward to watch Thy Light and they did not disappoint!

Now my big FAIL of the day, I went to watch Scour, I was shooting and looked at the singer and thought: he looks very familiar?
After I left the pit and started to think, I realized who it was, of course it was Phil Anselmo!
The guy has so many bands and was playing with Down later on also, I didn’t think of it he had double duty.

Because for some reason I really wanted to shoot Black Veil Brides, I dared to go to the
mainstage again, luckily there was a nice shade already. I didn’t expect much from this band,
but I was actually nicely surprised. Guess I had a whole other thing in my head when I saw
their name passing by. Also loved the joke the singer made, but I have a feeling the French
didn’t really get it. Yeah, you were the first to say it out loud the joke, but I had been
thinking it all weekend… Hellfest was really HELL with this weather!

While I was at the mainstage anyway, I decided to quickily take along Pennywise, for me that name will also be associated with the clown in IT movie, which has nothing to do with this band of course. But nice to see them on stage for once!
As I was too late to shoot Gehenna, I just sat down and enjoyed the gig. Think last time I saw
them; they were playing there also.

Finally, the time was getting closer! I had been texting around all day with two members of this band as the founder wanted me to shoot the whole gig and also from the stage. So, we had to make arrangements to make it all happen. And then it worked out!
What an experience, but the whole reason for me to be there, apart they are my favorite band and Morgan is a close friend, Marduk was going to use blood again on stage, that had been ages! So, keep ready for some exclusive photos of that!
Can’t tell much of the gig itself as I was so focused on all the rest.

While I was on the stage, I happened to bump into another good friend of mine, none less than Mr. Hellhammer from Mayhem himself. So, I asked him if it was ok for him and their manager to shoot the whole gig also, his reaction? “Permission granted!”
So, to close the festival I shot the whole gig which gives some exclusive photos also.
And someone (read: Ghul), was waiting to see his cool Mickey Foley shirt on photos. Glad to provide them 😉

And so, this year’s edition ended… Now we have to wait another year to go back.
A big thank you to the festival for always making this an awesome experience, can you believe it has been 15 years I come here??? But also, a HUGE thank you to the Challengers, who take such good care of us in the pit, the professional security team who is always super kind to us and of course let’s not forget all the medical staff who had to take care of a lot of people with this hellish weather! Without them, there is no festival, never forget this!

So goodbye for now, and hopefully see you next year in Hell(fest) again!

Review and photos by Eve Ov Beer Photo