The curtain is coming down on trad metal gathering Brofest – and it will be going out in a blaze of denim and leather!
Brofest’s seventh edition will take place between May 13 and May 15, 2027 at Newcastle’s Anarchy Brewery, and the bill reads like a who’s who of classic metal and NWOBHM.
Legendary Ventura metallers Cirith Ungol will be playing their first ever Tyneside show when they headline Brofest’s opening night.
And in keeping with the event’s roots, North East NWOBHM veterans Satan, Blitzkrieg, Avenger, Spartan Warrior and Tysondog will all be hitting the stage.
Since its inception in Newcastle in 2013, Brofest has been a shot in the arm for traditional heavy metal, and it has revived the careers of many bands from NWOBHM’s halcyon days. South Shields’ Mythra reunited at Brofest in 2015 and have since released two full-lengths. County Durham’s Millennium played their first gig in 27 years at the festival, and have remained active. Lichfield’s Bashful Alley and Manchester’s Sacred Alien sparked back into life at Brofest. All four bands will be returning next year.
NWOBHM devotees will also get a fix of Scotland’s Holocaust, who graced the very first Brofest and Saracen, who’ll be delivering a special Heroes, Saints & Fools set.
Teesside’s Black Rose, Bridlington stalwarts Badge, Alloa trio Chasar, London proggers Marquis de Sade, Barry rockers Stormqueen and Liverpool veterans Damascus – who’ll be playing their first gig since 2014’s Brofest – will also represent the NWOBHM era.
And there’ll be appearances from Chicago’s High Spirits – who have a long-time affinity with Tyneside – plus Preston NWOTHM crew Ascalon and Blackpool’s Exocet.
If that’s not enough, even more bands are set to be announced for the three-day metal bender!
This ‘final Brodown’ is the first Brofest since 2020’s edition, which saw the likes of Haunt, Seven Sisters, Riot City, Traveler, Heavy Sentence and Saracen hit Newcastle in a multinational metalfest. You can check out our review here.
Ticket information for Brofest 7
The bad news? Full festival passes sold out in a matter of hours.
The good news? A limited number of day tickets may be available – check out Brofest’s Facebook page for more details.
There’s also a waiting list via See Tickets here.
Satan band photo and live images by Stefan Rosic, Conundrum Images. Check out his work on Facebook and Instagram.