Festival Presentations
Discover five rising festivals from around the globe as they reveal their strategies for building a unique identity and making impactful artistic choices to drive their growth. What decisions have been essential to your festival’s success? What makes you stand out, and how do you connect with your audience in meaningful ways?
Friday 18. April 11:00 - Room: Central Park
Mod: Laetitia Abbenes // Northstar Media (NL)
Having her own established company in the heavy music industry, Laetitia Abbenes gained experience in a wide variety of fields. Starting out freelancing for Dynamo Metal Fest and Into the Grave Festivals in the Netherlands in PR and Marketing. The next step in her career was at the label Season of Mist, working five years in artist and release promotion. She found her calling and freedom in founding her own company, Northstar Media, now working for among others Enslaved, AISAmusic, Wardruna, Beyond the Gates. presenting a podcast and a lot more.
Roman Hödl // Eindhoven Metal Meeting (NL)
The Eindhoven Metal Meeting, held annually in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is an indoor festival organized by Roman Hödl and hosted by District 19. It takes place at Effenaar, a modern venue located just a two-minute walk from the central train station and surrounded by various hotel accommodation options. The festival, with a capacity of 1600 tickets, has grown significantly since its inception.
Originally the successor of Arnhem Metal Meeting, which began in 2004, the first Eindhoven Metal Meeting took place in 2009 as a one-day event with two stages. It sold out, and from then on, it expanded to a two-day event. The festival's mission is to support the international extreme metal scene by providing a fan-friendly atmosphere where music enthusiasts from around the world can come together.
With a lineup of 32 bands spread over two days and two stages, attendees can enjoy a mix of death metal, black metal, thrash metal, melodic metal, doom, and sometimes even hard- or grindcore acts. The festival also includes a restaurant and a metal market, as well as creating an environment for bands to connect with label representatives and music industry professionals. Known for its unique audience and atmosphere, the Eindhoven Metal Meeting welcomes both well-known and underground acts, always ensuring a unique experience with “no fillers, just killers.”
The event prides itself on being independent, with no funding from government sources or sponsorships, making it one of the last truly independent extreme metal festivals. It’s a place where fans from across the globe can celebrate their passion for metal.
Toni Törrönen // Hellsinki Metal Festival (FI)
Hellsinki Metal Festival is a new breed of extreme metal festival based in Helsinki, around and in the Helsinki Ice-Hall, also called ”Nordis”. Their exclusive and diverse artistic content is something that they pride themselves on. Helsinki has been monopolized by only one metal festival for decades and they wanted to bring something else to the table with this festival. The line-up is curated with extreme care and specificity. They have had the event for just 2 years, yet they’ve had the privilege of hosting bands like Kreator, Satyricon, Avantasia, Mayhem, Watain, Meshuggah, Emperor and Deicide. This year they have Venom, King Diamond, Old Mans Child, Hatebreed, Fear Factory, Marduk and Dismember, just to name a few.
Hellsinki Metal Festival also has a lot of other content during the two festival days. The festival’s art exhibition ”Dark Art Gallery” was a huge success as it featured artists like Peter Beste, David Thiérrée and Zbigniew M. Bielak. Their indoor ”Brutal Bazaar” market area has everything from record stores to tattoo artists and beef jerky to handmade jewelry. They also pride themselves on co-operating with Finland’s foremost non-profit mental health organization MIELI Ry. There is an easily accessible mental health service on location by MIELI Ry where anyone from the audience can go talk with a trained professional about all sorts of issues regarding their mental health.
Toni Törrönen has been working with live music for about 20 years, and he has promoted shows with bands like Dream Theater, Mayhem, Samantha Fox, Satyricon, Deicide, Haddaway, Cannibal Corpse and Scooter. Into the festival business, he was picked up by the biggest rock festival in Finland called Rock Fest and worked as a promoter from 2018–2019. Now, he has been working for about 5 years for All Things Live Finland, the company behind Hellsinki Metal Festival.
Stephen Lockhart // Ascension Festival Iceland (IS)
Ascension is an annual metal festival that takes place in Iceland. The festival prides itself on offering an eclectic, esoteric and wholly unique experience, placing a strong emphasis on Icelandic and international Black metal, along with alternative and experimental acts.
The festival will take place at Hlégarður in Mosfellsbær, November 13th - 15th and will be the fifth edition, the 3rd of which will be hosted at Hlégarður. Located in the outskirts of the greater Reykjavík area, Hlégarður is surrounded by mountains and the desolate, unearthly landscapes Iceland has come to be known for.
Ascension 2025 is a winter event, offering the chance to witness first-hand the arctic phenomena of the aurora borealis.
Stephen Lockhart, the founder of Ascension Festival Iceland, is the Irish record producer behind Studio Emissary. Based in Iceland for the last 15 years, he is credited with contributing heavily to the birth of Icelandic Black Metal for his work with Icelandic heavy-weights Svartidauði, Sinmara, Auðn, Almyrkvi, and Zhrine. The Irish producer's name has become synonymous with a certain level of professional excellence. In recent years, the studio’s work has extended beyond Icelandic borders, working with many esteemed acts such as Inferno, Tchornobog and Vástigr.
Having worked on everything between the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Björk's Biophilia, he has quickly gained notoriety for his well-refined engineering skills and detailed approach to any project. Oration is a record label founded by Stephen Lockhart and is the sister company to Studio Emissary. With the inception of these two entities came Oration Festival, a festival that was originally intended solely as a showcase event for bands Studio Emissary had collaborated with. The event quickly expanded to the scale of a 3-day festival, featuring not only Studio Emissary related bands, but bands from the highest echelons of international black metal. Oration Festival ran for three years, only to be replaced by its spiritual successor, Ascension.
Søren Weiss & Lauge Hede Kjærum // Epic Fest (DK)
Epic Fest, well the name says it all. An epic celebration of Power Metal, Epic Heavy, and Fantasy, set in the ancient realm of Roskilde, Denmark. With the 'speed of light', Epic Fest has rapidly grown into a significant and dedicated genre-festival on the global metal scene.
By its second year (2024), the festival in Denmark attracted visitors from 15% of the world’s countries and over 20% of U.S. states. Epic Fest started in 2023 as a small club festival with just one stage. It has expanded by 400% in just two years, with its three stages: 'Gimle', 'King Roar's Hall', and 'The Realm of Might & Magic'.
Epic Fest also has a huge focus on developing exciting side events with Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy activities, Nintendo gaming, themed party areas, pop-up shows, a festival fantasy atmosphere, and much much more. It is the ultimate gathering for passionate Power Metal fans from around the world. A place to come together, be themselves, party, and experience the might and magic of Power Metal!
Søren and Lauge have both won the Danish Metal Industry Recognition Award in 2023 (Søren) & 2024 (Lauge), and as co-founders, they have developed the successful and rapidly growing Power Metal Festival - Epic Fest.
Søren Weiss
Søren Weiss is, in many ways, an octopus on the Danish metal scene. As a co-promoter of the big power metal festival Epic Fest and promoter of the Danish edition of Wacken Metal Battle through his own management company, Nightcrawler Management, Søren has enriched the Danish metal scene with many great experiences over the years. In his day-to-day life, he is working with management for Danish successful acts such as Iotunn, Lamentari, and Thus, the latter two of which are performing at this year’s Inferno.
Lauge Hede Kjærum
Lauge is, in his day-to-day life, the program director at the Danish venue called Gimle, located in Roskilde, Denmark, with over 250 annual shows and events. Besides that, Lauge is a co-founder and promoter of 'Epic Fest' and works on many other interesting and unconventional projects and events, such as a unique concert in Denmark's biggest Viking ship at sea, shows in Denmark's biggest Viking King's Hall, and recently the project called 'Generation Metal' – a metal concert experience tailored for children. The goal of 'Generation Metal' is to create a larger and even more dedicated generation of new metal fans – 'A New Generation of Metal.' So far, all three events have been sold out, so the future of metal looks bright in the city of Roskilde. The plan is to start expanding the projects to other countries in collaboration with local partners and promoters around the world.
Taner Oztonbul // Doom Over Istanbul (TR)
DOOM OVER ISTANBUL is a music festival dedicated to the dark souls who resonate with the melancholic, heavy, and introspective sounds of the doom, gothic, and post-punk genres. Held annually in the heart of Istanbul, Turkiye the festival provides a platform for musicians and bands from all over the world to showcase their raw, emotional artistry, where the focus is on deep, soulful expressions and powerful performances.
As a celebration of all things dark and heavy-hearted, DOOM OVER ISTANBUL is open to any musicians and bands whose work carries the spirit of sentimentality and emotional depth. It’s not just a concert, but a gathering of like-minded souls who appreciate the beauty in darkness, the catharsis in sorrow, and the solace found in the weighty chords of doom metal, dark rock, black metal, post-punk and other melancholic sub-genres.
Taner Oztonbul is the owner of Duality Productions, a well-known company focused on organizing and promoting heavy metal shows across Turkiye. Duality Productions has played an important role in bringing together the country's metal music scene, offering a platform for local and international bands to perform and connect with passionate fans. His dedication to the music industry is matched by his expertise as a professional drummer, where he has earned respect as a skilled musician within the rock music community in Turkiye.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Taner holds a Master's degree in Financial Mathematics, showcasing his analytical and business awareness. He is still working for one of the Top Tier Banks, in the area of International Capital Markets, as a trader and product manager. His dual expertise in finance and music has allowed him to navigate both worlds successfully, contributing to the growth of Turkiye’s heavy metal culture.
Taner continues to support and grow the heavy metal society in Turkiye, providing opportunities for bands and fans to connect through live music experiences with his company, Duality Productions.
