Tomorrow is the kick-off for the 25th-anniversary edition of the Belgian metal festival: Graspop in Dessel.
Of course, today there are heavy metal fans who are already on their way to what they call: “Home”. The place where they come to rest every year over and over again. Four days of listening to your favorite music, watching your favorite bands perform live on stage, and enjoying the company of their friends because everyone at Graspop is a friend of each other.
The metal scene has been an underground scene for centuries already. People think that metalheads are just random idiots who don’t know anything, can’t do anything, and listen to the worst music that’s made.
Well, let’s get rid of these ideas once and for all, cause let me assure you, metal fans are one the kindest and most helpful people there are. Sure, they get into a moshpit and might smash someone else in the face, but that is not on purpose and it’s the risk we all take by joining in. Whenever this happens and someone got injured seriously, the people who notice it, are the first to join in helping the injured to get back up, or carry them to the hospital wing. That’s an ultimate rule in the metal scene.
And when the person is back in action, and you meet each other again later during the festival, you go and have a drink together, have apologies, and talk and laugh about it. That’s how a metal festival is working. Everyone is family to each other.
Now that that is out of the system, let’s get back to the essence here, the Belgian metal festival: Graspop.
The early days of metal in Dessel.
Graspop Metal Meeting (GMM), started in 1996 as a one-day festival. During their very first edition, they gave metal fans in Belgium bands like Iron Maiden, Slayer, Life Of Agony, Channel Zero, and much more. All those in just one day. They continued doing that for years to come and in 2001, finally, there was a chance for people who wanted to stay camping after the festival.
A year later, there was another scoop for GMM. People, not only could just stay at the camping to get back home the day after but could spend an entire day a longer because that was the very first time that GMM introduced a second festival day.
Over the years that followed, Graspop continued growing and evolving, and today, 26 years later, They have become one of the biggest metal festivals in Europe and perhaps even in the world.
Due to the covid pandemic, however, they had to cancel the editions in 2020 and 2021, but this year they are back, more alive and kicking than ever before. After all, they do finally have the chance to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
Bands that celebrate the 25th anniversary along with all the metal fans.
The 25th anniversary of this amazing festival does not go unnoticed. Graspop has invested everything they could to make this edition a huge party edition. To begin with, they added a 4th festival day. The official festival now starts Thursday, June 16th, and ends on Sunday, June 19th. Four days of heavy metal bands bringing their gratitude to the festival, the organizers, the people who are always willing to help out at the many stands, and foremost the fans who have supported them and the organization of the festival over the years.
This year, because it is an anniversary edition, bands will be performing at 6 stages. The bands who perform this year are not the least ones: Iron Maiden, Volbeat, Dropkick Murphys, Scorpions, Within Temptation, Whitesnake, Megadeth, A Day To Remember, Bullet For My Valentine, Heaven Shall Burn, Judas Priest, Korn, Saxon, Europe, Five Finger Death Punch, Sabaton, Deep Purple, and Alice Cooper are just a few of the names who are going to give their fans what they craved for, for two years in a row. So expect this year to be a blast!!
The gods of the weather probably also looked forward to this moment.
Luckily for all the metal fans back in Dessel, the weather has favored them, and the gods of the weather perhaps were even a bit too enthusiastic, so for all the people out there on the fields: Be careful, Drink enough water and cool down as much as you can! Have a safe and grateful journey during the festival and enjoy as much as you can!