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Bloodstock names 27 acts and three headliners for its 2027 festival lineup

Mercyful Fate, Electric Callboy and Motionless in White top the bill across the weekend, NME reports.

Mercyful Fate Electric Callboy Motionless in White Children of Bodom Dethklok Madball

Mercyful Fate performs on a large festival stage beneath an inverted cross and pentagram backdrop, with singer King Diamond in skull face paint at center and the band's name lit up on banners on either side.
Mercyful Fate performing at Wacken Open Air in Germany in August 2022. Photo: Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bloodstock has revealed the first wave of bookings for its 2027 festival, 27 acts in total, led by three headliners, NME reported on August 12. Mercyful Fate tops the bill on Friday, Electric Callboy headlines for the first time on Saturday, and Motionless in White closes the weekend on Sunday in what frontman Chris Motionless called the band's only UK show of 2027.

Children of Bodom, Dethklok and Madball are also on the bill, along with Devildriver, Corrosion of Conformity, Hammerfall and Decapitated.

On the festival's second stage, named for the late music writer Sophie Lancaster, Madball open Thursday on the strength of more than 35 years in New York hardcore, with Gaerea and Kanonenfieber following over the weekend before Dethklok close it out Sunday, a live reputation built well beyond the band's Metalocalypse cartoon origins.

Bloodstock is the UK's largest independent heavy metal festival, held at Catton Park in Derbyshire. The 2027 names were unveiled on the festival's own Ronnie James Dio stage minutes after Municipal Waste's set at this year's edition, which was itself headlined by Saxon, Lamb of God, Slaughter to Prevail and Judas Priest. The 2027 festival runs August 5-8.

Mercyful Fate last headlined Bloodstock in 2022, and the band said they were "honoured and looking extremely forward to playing Bloodstock again" with a new album due out.

NME reported that roughly 100 more acts are still to be announced, with early bird weekend tickets available at the festival's box office for 210 pounds before general on-sale opens August 10, when prices rise to 235 pounds plus fees. VIP, campervan and installment payment options opened August 12, including a newly added second luxury camping area called the Serpent's Lair VIP Sanctuary.

Bloodstock's 2026 edition, where the 2027 names were unveiled, wrapped days before journalist Dom Lawson revealed he had suffered a heart attack on site and was rushed to hospital; he said he expects to need surgery as he recovers. It's the latest addition to the festival tracker and our metal coverage.

The facts

  • 27 acts were named in Bloodstock's first 2027 lineup wave
  • Mercyful Fate, Electric Callboy and Motionless in White headline
  • Motionless in White called it their only UK show of 2027
  • Bloodstock 2027 runs August 5-8 at Catton Park, Derbyshire
  • The Sophie Lancaster stage runs Madball, Gaerea, Kanonenfieber and Dethklok
  • VIP and campervan booking opened August 12 with a new Serpent's Lair camping area

How this checks out

Developing

Reported by 2 independent outlets

A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.

Cited sources 2

Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.

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