Finland is a huge country on the level of rock and metal music and has quite an amount of interesting festivals that showcase this. Last year we got surprised by the first edition of what is shaping up to be the biggest metal and rock event in the country: The Rock Fest. With immediately headliners like Rammstein and Evanescence they set the tone and they’re definitely not holding back for their 2nd edition! This time there are 4 days of music to enjoy with some of the biggest names of the international and national rock & metal music scene spread over 3 stages and this time at the airport of the small city of Hyvinkää.

Info

As I mentioned earlier, Rockfest 2018 has officially moved and is set to take place at Hyvinkää Airfield in Hyvinkää, Finland. The dates are 6.-9. of June 2018 and the festival has an age limit of 18.

Festival area opening hours:
Wednesday 6th of June, gates will open at 4 pm.
Thursday 7th of June, gates will open at 4 pm.
Friday 8th of June, gates will open at 2 pm.
Saturday 9th of June, gates will open at 2 pm.

The festival area will close after the final artists. Several after parties will take place at Ravintola Hopealyhty in the center with bands like Ikinä, The Empire Strikes, Block Buster and our friends from Blue Eyed Sons! For more details about the after parties, go here: https://www.facebook.com/events/229979880919613/

Line-up

Also this year the line-up is massively impressive. With this time 4 days and an extra stage they got more bands and even bigger bands! Headliners of the 4 days are respectively the very last chance to see Ozzy Osbourne in Finland, godfathers of heavy metal Judas Priest with their new album, the glorious return of shocker Marilyn Manson after last year’s indoor show and the popular young metal band Avenged Sevenfold!

Besides the already very attractive headliners, there are quite a few gems to be found in the line-up. Big names like Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, Children of Bodom, Megadeth, Amorphis, Hollywood Undead, Opeth and CKY are all there. But also high quality smaller bands like our friends from Shiraz Lane and Blind Channel both with a brand new album under their belt will be there to bring us a banging show! Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday after the headliner finishes their set, there will still be 2 bands performing on the other 2 stages (Perkele stage and Kivi stage) with explosive shows by for instance Lost Society, Hollywood Undead and Skindred!

Location

This time the event takes place at the bigger area provided at Hyvinkää Airfield with 3 stages: the Radio Rock main stage, Perkele tent stage and smaller outdoor Kivi stage. You’ll find bars all over the place, an area loaded with interesting food stalls, priority & VIP areas with a view on the main stage and even a “Fun Park”! Since the festival lasts for 4 days and the city center (and public transport) is a bit further away than last year, the organisation has provided us with a camping called KOFF ROCK CITY to spend the night and never have to leave the festival atmosphere… For information about the camping, go here: https://rockfest.fi/en/infot/leirinta/

The festival arena is still quite easy to reach though: Hyvinkää is about 40 minutes away from Helsinki airport by train, though a bus trip is a possibility too. If you’re by car there is a parking available but you have to buy your parking ticket in advance and the organisation warns everyone that small roads might be quite congested. And if you’re local or have to come from the center to get to the festival there is the option of a shuttle bus or even bicycle if you feel energetic, since there’s a bicycle park provided… for even more information, we’d recommend you to go have a look here: https://rockfest.fi/en/infot/saapuminen/

Tickets

Lastly: what is this all going to cost you? Last year we made the remark that we thought there were way too many options and combinations for just a metal and rock festival. It seems like the organisation decided to make things less complicated this time around and your options are:

• Basic tickets at 99€ for 1 day and starting from 149€ for more than 1 day
• Priority tickets at 165€ for 1 day and starting from 195€ for more than 1 day (with priority fast-lane entrance to festival and own area with bar and toilets looking on the main stage)
• VIP tickets at 195€ for 1 day and starting from 245€ for more than 1 day (with pass, VIP fast-lane entrance to festival, own area with bar, toilets and elevated seats looking on the main stage and free access to all the after parties if the capacity of the venue isn’t reached)

You can select every possible imaginable combination of days you could wish for, going from 2 days to 3 days or just all 4 days of rock and metal fun! On top of that there are still accommodation options, parking tickets, shuttle bus tickets and other extras you can purchase before the festival starts.

BEWARE!!! Last time I checked there are already several options sold-out and the organisation put out a warning that 85 % of the tickets are sold. So be quick if you still want to get that perfect option for you: https://rockfest.fi/en/liput/

Cashless

2018 also marks the start of using a so called “cashless” system at Rock Fest. A lot of the bigger festivals like for instance Hellfest use these kind of systems. What is this you ask? Well:

• A secure access and payment system for festival visitors
• All tickets will be exchanged to cashless wristbands before the festival.
• Your personal wristband will be topped-up with your ticket and money.

At the festival area you can only pay with the Cashless wristband. So your wristband is basically worth everything. The cashless bracelet is your ticket and the only method of payment throughout the festival. Pre-loaded Cashless wristbands will make entry and making purchases at the festival area significantly faster. You can top up your bracelet of course at the festival area at the designated spots.

Of course we’ll hope to see and meet a lot of you there for 4 days of music greatness!
Rock on!