While Alcatraz is one of Belgium’s biggest metal and rock festivals, the headliners are not always the most predictable ones. The organization is one of those who dare to take a gamble on a band that hasn’t been headlining these kinds of major events yet, and while that often causes metalheads to complain, the past has proven that this formula has been paying off more than once. Compared to last year, it feels they went a bit more safe direction, but nevertheless there are 3 absolutely stellar acts selected of which some really deserve more attention as a headlining band!

On the Friday, vikings, pagans, bezerkers and the lot will be gathering in front of the mainstage for what will be most likely an absolutely epic show from Amon Amarth. They have proved time and time again that they can more than handle big shows, always bringing out large crowds, shouting along to some of their songs that have become absolute metal classics. Knowing the theatrics and amounts of pyrotechnics that are usually involved with their indoor venue shows, we can only imagine how much out of control this might get. We’re secretly hoping that there also will be a guest appearance by at least Biff from Saxon (if not most of the band) for an epic live rendition of ‘Saxons and Vikings‘, unleashing a battle between the two as depicted in the music video. One thing is sure: it’ll be damn epic!

On the Saturday, somewhat in line with last year’s headliner, it’s a moment for the old school and older generations with the rather iconic Swedish rock band Europe. We all know their monster hit ‘The Final Countdown’, but whoever has seen these guys rockin’ out live, know they’re so much more than that famous song. You’ll be in for quite the treat, let’s all gather in front of the Prison Stage and ‘Rock the Night’ away!

And lastly, to close down this year’s edition of Alcatraz with a bang under the form of Architects. The British metalcore outfit has become a pretty iconic part of the scene, and we know that their shows can be pretty impressive. We’re so looking forward to what they’ll do with the massive mainstage. And for the naysayers under you, saying that the band has become too soft along the way, go check out their single ‘Seeing Red’ and tell us: Are you happy now?

Every edition, the organization manages to attract some bands that you don’t see all that often in the neighborhood or at festivals to begin with. Or like we were mentioning in the earlier point, to rope them in for a more elaborate headlining show. And through that, we’ve seen some really cool things happening and experiences some great moments.

And we bet a lot of great memories will be made with this year’s headliners, but also having two of the so-called “Big Six of Bay Area thrash metal” members over the weekend with Testament and Exodus, the late night shows of bands like Cradle of Filth, Opeth, Life Of Agony, Satyricon and Clutch, but also hardcore legends Hatebreed celebrating their 30th anniversary with a stop at Alcatraz for a late night show, Heideroosjes dropping by with the fest being part of their select few live shows in their 35th jubilee year, Cirith Ungol doing a last tour before they really close the books at the end of 2024, and the chance to see the Swedish black metal misfits Watain in full glory as they have a spot on the Swamp Stage relatively late in the evening on Saturday. We’re pretty sure you’ll find some epic shows to make this edition as memorable as it possibly could get.

Alcatraz wouldn’t be Alcatraz if they didn’t pay some good amount of attention to the Belgian scene and all the talent that can be found there. Last year, 20 of the over 100 bands were from the own soil and for the 2024 edition they have gone even beyond that, showing how much belief and trust the organisation has in the local scene…  Some of these you might want to go see if you’re not from Belgium, they’re more than worth it and might not get to your country any time soon. And it’s not like they are putting these bands all on the smallest stage in a far away corner. No, about half of these Belgians will be found on the Prison Stage, Swamp Stage or Helldorado Stage. The rest will summon up some riots at La Morgue stage, which is a tent stage with more of a club feel and definitely not a curse if we look at the crazy shows that happened last year…

Go see the local metal heroes of Dyscordia open the whole weekend with a solid set on the Prison Stage, which will be at the same time a farewell show for one of their guitarists who is leaving the band. Later in the day, we’ll get the Belgian metal legends Channel Zero taking over the Prison Stage, a band that should have made it much bigger internationally than they did! The Swamp Stage will get opened up on Friday by the “West Flemish pitch-black metal” band Dudsekop and the Helldorado Stage gets a first serving of uncompromising hardcore from the Antwerp outfit Fatal Move, followed by the return of Mantah, who got a major upgrade to this stage after they made the La Morgue stage explode last year! You’ll also find a handful of Belgians at La Morgue with Alcatraz Bash winners X-Pozed opening up the stage, the stoners of The Killbots and Fire Down Below, and lastly the rising stars of Hippotraktor who just released an amazing album!

On the Saturday, the Prison Stage doesn’t get any local visitors, but you’ll find the modern thrashers of Temptations For The Weak opening the Swamp Stage, Fleddy Melculy and Bizkit Park setting up shop on the Helldorado Stage for what most likely will be some of the biggest metal parties of the weekend, and on La Morgue again a handful of Belgian bands with metalcore revelations Secondhand Saints opening the day there, some proper doom from Columbarium, broken up by one of the best live bands around with the rock & roll punk from Arson, before you get to more sinister music with Rituals of the Dead Hand, and do not miss out on Pothamus, one of Belgium’s best sludge and post-rock outfits right now…

While last year the biggest day for the Belgian metal scene was the Sunday, it seems that this time they’ve spread out the Belgian bands a bit more equally over the days. The day will find a good start with one of Belgium’s leading thrash metal bands After All opening the Prison Stage. The Swamp Stage will be opened by Millhaven, the melodeath/metalcore band formerly known as The Curse of Millhaven, who will surely rip up the stage and warm up the extreme metal fan properly for their countrymates of Mordkaul who come right after them. The Helldorado Stage will on the other hand get opened by one of the hottest bands right now with Cobra The Impaler. And on top of that, you can go set up shop at La Morgue for some quality metal with Eternal Breath, Sanity’s Rage, Thorium and the glorious return of one of Belgium’s very first thrash metal bands: Cyclone!

While Alcatraz features many classic and legendary metal and rock bands, it feels like the people behind this event are really keeping the finger on the pulse and future of the heavy music scene. Besides a bunch of promising and up-and-coming bands from the own Belgian scene, we were all too happy to see bands like Skeletal Remains, Orden Ogan, Misery Index, Ankor, Spiritbox, Eternal Champion, Lord Of The Lost, Mental Cruelty, Emmure, Fen and Sylosis get much deserved attention on a festival like Alcatraz, because they are keeping the future of heavy music bright and strong! And you can be sure that we’ll be doing our best to catch every single one of them on their stages!

Something that we haven’t seen many festivals do, but Alcatraz does, is really sort of catering to their visitors by grouping bands of a same or similar genre together. If you look at the time schedule of Alcatraz 2024, you’ll find that especially the Swamp, Helldorado, and La Morgue stage has somewhat of a different musical theme every festival day. At a lot of festivals, you’ll see the organization spread bands of similar genres over the different festival days, we assume to entice fans of a certain genre to buy a weekend ticket. Not as much at Alcatraz, which feels like a tremendous fan service to us. In a lot of cases, you can simply set up shop at one of the stages for one day and get to enjoy your favorite genre without having to buy a weekend ticket or move much at all.

You’re into extreme metal? The Swamp stage on all days is the place to be for you with some of the best black, death and a bit of doom have to offer.
You’re looking for a healthy dose of hardcore and punk? Get your ticket for the Friday and set up shop at the Helldorado stage.
Got a need for stoner, doom, sludge and old school heavy metal? Especially Helldorado stage on the Sunday will be heaven for you, but a good chunk of Friday and Saturday’s La Morgue will satisfy those needs as well.
More of an old school thrash and heavy metal fan? You simply have to be at La Morgue on the Sunday!

Besides checking out your favorite bands, and discovering the next big thing or new addition to your playlists, there are tons of other activities to keep you occupied whenever you don’t feel like spending your time and energy on a show for a moment. You’ll find dressed up crew members walking around to entertain you with their act (going from freak show to prison guards), we’ve seen some car wrecks you can go beat up some more to get some frustration out of your system, signing sessions with your favorite artists, and of course there’s a sizeable metal market where you can find CD’s, vinyl, merch, accessories,… anything your alternative heart might desire, and so on. Last year there was even a championship belly sliding…

And with all that activity, you of course need some sustenance… Also on this they didn’t skimp with a wide range of different foods going from the classic Belgian fries to pizza and burgers, but also more special stuff like gourmet hot dogs, and meatballs, tex mex, bubble waffles, noodles and pasta, and an extended offering of many vegan snacks. And for the liquid side of things, not only can you find a nice range of your standard (Belgian) drinks going from Coca Cola and Red Bull to beer, if you want something more special, go spend some time in the El Presidio bar for some typical Belgian special/strong beers or the Koffie Queen and Latitude 51 for your high quality caffeine fix.

Find the whole offer and the prices right here, so you can already prepare what you might want and want to spend: https://alcatraz.be/en/food-and-drinks

Don’t forget to get your food & drink tokens in pre-sale to get a discount: https://www.alcatraz.be/en/tickets

Alcatraz is probably one of the nicest festivals around, where the atmosphere is always stellar. And while most festivals (at least in Belgium) just have a simple setup with not all that much flair, the whole prison theme really permeates the whole event. There are the prison guards that walk around the terrain, always ready to take a picture with you, the mascot is a zombified prison guard, and the main stage looks like a huge prison complete with fire spitting towers. You can add to that the freak show acts roaming around, the other stages (Swamp, Helldorado, La Morgue) going with their respective themes, and plenty of other cool things to discover. And both the organization and visitors are committed to giving everyone the best possible time over those few days of festival, regularly giving tips/rules on partaking in the mosphits that will be aplenty, spreading love and positivity and more like that.

Once you’ve gone to Alcatraz, you become part of a family, the “prisoners” or “inmates” (there is even a “Alcatraz inmates” Facebook group to connect with people). You’ll make friends and memories that will last forever, and it wouldn’t be the first time we hear of people planning the festival in as a yearly destination, or in other words, a family reunion. With those thousands of people showing up for the same music, and even though it’s a larger scale event, the rather cozy and intimate setting, there is a certain vibe of unity and familiarity that is pretty rare at events like this. Even the Alcatraz crew is a tight group of people who come back year after year to volunteer and contribute to the greatness that is this fest. So come on, get yourself a ticket, get your ass over to the festival and automatically get an extended family of weirdos and music lovers!

The team behind this festival is really worth your support and love. Every edition goes as smooth as it gets, and besides having their fingers on the pulse of the scene, they really have an open ear to the feedback of their visitors. Every year they improve things further and invest into making the overall experience even better than before and to give the good vibes there even more of a boost, instead of trying to expand and get bigger.

Besides that, they are a strong supporter of anything that is local (besides the local music scene) and of higher quality, working with local businesses for food and other services. And they do anything they can to keep everyone safe, just go look at their series in teaching (the unwritten) rules on taking part in a moshpit, keeping it relatively safe for everyone. But they are also very committed to become one of the best “low impact” festivals around by working on the overall ecological footprint, waste, consumption, power and so on. Truly an organization that tries to take care of everyone and everything to give us the best time ever for that one weekend in August.

Though they do organize other shows throughout the year within Kortrijk and have the second edition of their smaller winter fest planned in November with “Hell’s Balls Belgium”. Check it out here to get tickets: https://www.hellsballs.be/