Bloodstock festival adds Saxon as first-ever Thursday main-stage headliner; 26 other bands also confirmed

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By ( Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Louder ) published

The UK heavy metal stalwarts will return to the top of the bill at the Derbyshire weekender, 25 years after they headlined the first-ever Bloodstock

Biff Byford performing onstage with Saxon in 2024
(Image credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)

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.”

Bloodstock festival 2026 poster

(Image credit: Bloodstock Open Air)
Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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