Damnation Festival

Damnation Festival is an annual one-day heavy metal music festival currently held at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. It was held at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester from 2005 to 2006 and then at the University of Leeds from 2007 until 2021. It is organized by Gavin McInally and Paul Farrington.

Damnation 2005
The first Damnation Festival was held on 16 October 2005 at Jilly's Rockworld, Manchester, England. Fifteen bands performed on two stages, headlined by Raging Speedhorn and Entombed.

Damnation 2006
The second annual Damnation Festival was held on 15 October 2006 at Jilly's Rockworld, Manchester, England. Fourteen bands performed on two stages, headlined by The Haunted and Akercocke.

Damnation 2007
The third annual Damnation Festival was held on 20 October 2007 at Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, England. There were eighteen bands performing on two stages, headlined by Kreator and Anaal Nathrakh.

Damnation 2008
The fourth annual Damnation Festival was held on 22 November 2008 and saw the festival move to another new venue at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The change of venues allowed the festival to expand to three stages incorporating seventeen bands headlined by Carcass, Cathedral and Pitchshifter.

British band Raging Speedhorn were initially booked to play their last show at the festival, but cancelled in favour of a last tour in Japan. Carcass would make this show their only UK show on their comeback tour.

Damnation 2009
The fifth annual Damnation Festival was held on the 24th of October 2009 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The organizers announced the festival would again cover three stages but open doors earlier to prevent clashes between bands. The headline acts for 2009 were Life of Agony, Lock Up and Jesu.

Life of Agony's headline slot was their only UK appearance in 2009.

This appearance was Mistress's last show and Rotting Christ's only English show for 2009.

Negura Bunget and Extreme Noise Terror were originally booked to play the Terrorizer stage but both pulled out. Negura Bunget played a make up set in May 2010 at sister festival Deathfest.

On 3 June Entombed were announced on the festival line up. On 23 June the bands management issued a statement announcing that the band would not appear at the festival.

Damnation 2010
The sixth annual Damnation Festival was held on 6 November 2010 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The Dillinger Escape Plan and Paradise Lost co-headlined the Jägermeister Stage, whilst Discharge headlined the Terrorizer stage and Alcest the Rock Sound Stage.

Damnation 2011
The seventh annual Damnation Festival was held on 5 November 2011 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The festival covered three stages, headlined by Devin Townsend Project, Ulver and God is an Astronaut.

Decapitated were forced to pull out after surviving a plane crash. Returning from their US tour, the plane was forced to make a landing with no landing gear in their native Poland.

Damnation 2012
The eighth annual Damnation Festival was held across three stages at the University of Leeds student union, Leeds, England, on Saturday 3 November.

Damnation 2013
The ninth annual Damnation Festival was held across four stages at the University of Leeds student union, Leeds, England, on Saturday 2 November. The event was headlined by Carcass in their only UK headlining show of 2013 following the release of their new album.

Damnation 2014
The 10th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 1 November and featured a total of 26 bands across four stages. The sold out event saw a crowd of approximately 4000 in attendance.

Headliners for the event were UK death-metal act Bolt Thrower who played their only UK performance for 2014 at the festival. October File were booked to play the festival but were forced to withdraw prior to the event, they were replaced by Dyscarnate.

Damnation 2015
The 11th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 7 November and featured a total of 27 bands across four stages. The event was headlined by At the Gates.

Damnation 2016
The 12th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 5 November.

Damnation 2017
The 13th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 4 November.

Damnation 2018
The 14th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 3 November.

Damnation 2019
The 15th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 2 November.

Damnation 2020
Damnation festival was canceled in 2020 due to ongoing regulations around music venues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Damnation 2021
Green Lung were originally booked to play the Eyesore Merch Stage but had to pull out due to a member of the band testing positive for Covid-19. They were replaced by Svalbard. It was also the last time it would take place at Leeds University.

4 exclusive sets were played the day before:


 * Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
 * Akercocke - Goat of Mendes
 * Raging Speedhorn - Raging Speedhorn
 * Orange Goblin - 1 Track per Album

Damnation 2022
The festival was held at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester for the first time. The festival is now the largest indoor metal festival in Europe. Ministry (band) were originally booked to headline the festival but pulled out due to the cancellation of their European tour. Godflesh were announced as the replacement as well as four exclusive full album performances:


 * Converge - Jane Doe
 * At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
 * Godflesh - Streetcleaner
 * Pig Destroyer - Prowler In The Yard

Damnation 2023
The festival was held over two days, November 3 and November 4, at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. Ahab were originally booked to play the Eyesore Merch Stage but pulled out due to illness. They were replaced by Bossk.