Slipknot, A Day To Remember, BABYMETAL Lead Knotfest 2025 Line-up

Knotfest – the twisted, heavy brainchild of American metal legends Slipknot – returns to Australia in February/March 2025 and will be headlined by the titular band.

The highly anticipated line-up for next year’s event has finally dropped after a short turnaround from the initial teasing but a long wait since this year’s festival. It’s got something for everyone who enjoys heavy music. Aside from Slipknot, the international contingent is strong.

Knotfest has locked in American post-hardcore meets pop-punk outfit A Day To Remember, Japanese metal pioneers BABYMETAL, Russian deathcore outfit Slaughter To Prevail, Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation – making their Australian debut – chameleonic rockers Enter Shikari, US heavy metal icons Hatebreed – celebrating their second album Perseverance – LA-based industrial metal trio HEALTH, metallers Miss May I, Des Moines-based heavies Vended, and hardcore outfit Sunami.

In terms of Aussies flying the local flag for heavy music, Sydney metalcore ARIA-nominated band Polaris will rip out their tunes, and In Hearts Wake, who dropped their heaviest album to date this year with Incarnation, will also perform.

As well as the live music, Knotfest 2025 will see the return of the Knotfest Museum, which will contain items from Slipknot’s 25-year (sic) storied history.

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Organisers revealed the dates for Knotfest 2025 earlier this week, announcing that the travelling heavy metal festival will return to its usual haunts of Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse (Friday, 28 February), Brisbane Showground (Sunday, 2 March), and Sydney’s Centennial Park (Saturday, 8 March).

When it comes to tickets, punters who attended this year’s Knotfest will be served first, with an exclusive pre-sale kicking off next Monday, 21 October, at 9 am local time. Knotfest.com Premium Members are next, with pre-sale tickets available an hour later. Non-premium subscribers to Knotfest.com can access tickets from 11 am.

The promoters, Destroy All Lines, will also host a pre-sale on Monday, with tickets available from 11 am. The general sale begins on Wednesday, 23 October, at 3 pm local time. Register for early bird pre-sale tickets here and purchase general tickets from here. Exclusive VIP packages are also available, with perks including a backstage tour and side-stage viewing.