Rockharz Festival 2026 was sold out faster than ever in only three days and nearly all festival tickets were bought by regulars! Thus, there isn’t much to say. Everybody who will be there in 2026 will know everything anyway or at least know, where to find it. Here is a little reminder though:
Bands 2026
The quality of the bands and the festival itself led to it selling out in these three days, despite people not knowing most of the bands playing there in 2026. Here is the complete list in alphabetical order. Some of them are infrequent guests or even newcomers, but there is also a range of regulars at the Rockharz Festival. Do you have any idea who these new bands are, or who the headliners will be?
Agnostic Front, Airbourne, Alice Cooper, Annisokay, Avatar, Betontod, Biohazard, Black Label Society, Crypta, Cypecore, Danko Jones, Decapitated, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Dogma, Dominum, Doro, Drone, Emperor, Ensiferum, Feuerschwanz, Fiddler’s Green, Final Cry, Finntroll, Gothminister, Die Habe Nichtse, Haggefugg, Harakiri For The Sky, Hämatom, Heavysaurus, Helloween, Hiraes, Knorkator, Kreator, Majestica, Mittel Alta, Motorjesus, Necrotted, Paradise Lost, P.O.D., Rauhbein, Rodeo 5000, Sagenbringer, Soen, Soulbound, Stahlmann, Steve N Seagulls, Subway To Sally, Tailgunner, The Haunted, Tungsten, Walls Of Jericho, Warmen, Watch Me Rise
Growing
As the festival grows, so does the campsite. Of course it takes a lot of planning and organisation to fit everyone in so that no space is wasted. Being nice to the stewards is a keyword here… They know what they are doing and have the layout in their heads. Well, someone will always complain about lack of space, but I must say I have never felt far too cramped in all these years. Get organised and you won’t have space problems. Along with the perfect campsite size comes short distances to the infield, food, drink and merchandise stalls. Even the furthest campsite is closer to the stage than it is to the toilets at the big festivals. And don’t forget the legendary walk to the Teufelsmauer… the place where legends and stories are made and told around the campfire for generations of headbangers!
Traffic
The negative side effect of increased traffic led to jams several kilometres long and long waiting times to enter the campsite by last year. Additionally, the number of caravans and camper vans has increased, as has the number of cars carrying only one passenger. However, campsite space is not finite, so the Rockharz Festival has taken measures to reduce the number of vehicles. Visit the website for more details and to learn about pre-defined routs to follow. I myself was very happy with them last year and can only recommend to follow these suggestions.
Tickets
Although the festival is sold out as far as camping is concerned, day tickets will still be available at the Rockharz shop. Day tickets may be sold out on site. Please keep an eye on the Rockharz newsfeed. Day visitors will have access to the infield through a separate entrance.
ROCK’N’RECYCLE PROJECT
It’s a project of the students of the Wolterstorff-Gymnasium since 2022. During the festival they collect donations such as sealed cans, sleeping mats, tents and cutlery to donate to the animal shelter or the Bahnhofsmission (similar to Army Of Salvation. Slight damage to equipment does not make it unusable!
Happiness in cans
Drinking beer and doing good at the same time? That’s the motto of the “Glück in Dosen” project, which has been running at the ROCKHARZ in cooperation with the Clausthal-Zellerfeld club for more than 10 years. Thanks to the collected cans, an incredible sum of €105000 was distributed to several charities to support their social projects. So if you see them on the campsite or pass by their stall near the infield, feel free to donate whatever you can, or invite them over for a drink and hand over your empty cans. They deserve it!
First Aid, Grabenschlampen, security, stewards, Police, Fire Brigade
Keep in mind that most of the volunteers are doing their job during the Rockharz festival for free or they took time off from their regular nine to five jobs. Be kind to them, they are metalheads like us and share the same passion. I will never forget the two policemen who queued up for the merch like everyone else “because we are metalheads like you”. These guys are just the best and deserve all the respect. They are there for you when you need them, no matter who you are, where you come from, what your problem is. They will help you solve it.
Online:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands’ official sources and don’t stream it for free, because that steals the artists’ income.