Yes! Here we go again! Last year we were impressed of the changes that The Rock Fest administered to their concept and overall workings. With this time 4 days of festival and headliners like Ozzy Osbourne,Judas Priest, Marilyn Manson and Avenged Sevenfold among the top of both Finnish and international acts, we had one hell of a good time (for the review go here)! They solidified their statement as the biggest rock & metal festival of Finland and don’t seem to be taking back much gas for the 2019 edition.

Info

Rockfest 2019 is set to take place at last year’s location again: Hyvinkää Airfield in Hyvinkää, Finland. With this time 3 official festival days, the dates are 7. – 9. of June 2019 and the festival has an age limit of 18.

For those who want to get into the groove earlier, there is a show by Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and support on Thursday June 6.

The festival area will open 1 to a couple of hours before the start of the first band.

The festival area will close after the final artists. Last year several after parties took place in a bar in the center of Hyvinkää with local or smaller international bands. And this is happening again, they even expanded this system from 1 afterparty gig at 1 bar every night to 2 different locations in Hyvinkää itself and even after parties in Helsinki!

For more info, go have a look here: https://rockfest.fi/en/infot/

Line-up

This year brings again quite the line-up. Headliners of the 3 days are on Friday the returning kings of modern metal Slipknot to set the stage on fire a first time, on Saturday the American mastodons of rock/metal Disturbed and the very last show ever (or so they say) of hard rock legends Kiss on Finnish soil!

Besides the headliners, there are quite a few gems to be found in the line-up. Names like Enslaved,Santa Cruz, Turbonegro, Rise of the Northstar, Chang and Rave The Requiem will all bring the heat to the stages. Some more big bands like Amaranthe, In Flames, Dream Theater and Def Leppard are taking up appearance as well. And of course a healthy amount of local bands will represent Finland every day like One Morning Left, Blind Channel and Lordi. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday 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 for those who aren’t ready to go yet!

Location

Like said before, 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 last year there was even a “Fun Park”! It looks like the lay-out of the festival grounds hasn’t changed much this time around, with a few minor adjustments:

Since the festival lasts for 3 days and the city center (and public transport) is a bit further away than last year, the organisation has provided us again with a camping 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? Since the beginning of this month the prices raised a bit again to the following:

You can select every possible imaginable combination of days you could wish for, going from 2 days to 3 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. And of course the extra ticket for the pre-party show of Rainbow and support.

Though be quick if you still want to get that perfect option for you, because they’re approaching being sold out…: https://rockfest.fi/en/liput/

Cashless

Last year they started using a “cashless” system at Rock Fest. A lot of the bigger festivals like for instance Hellfest use these kind of systems. Since it seemed to work quite well despite a few bugs and hiccups, we’re assuming that this will be the payment system used again this year. Now what is this cashless system 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 3 days of music greatness!
Rock on!

More info:
https://rockfest.fi/en/
The Rock Fest Facebook page
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow Facebook event
The Rockfest Facebook event