Knotfest Australia 2025: All You Need To Know

Get ready to rip it up metalheads – Knotfest Australia and its godfathers are back and kicking off its third lap around the country this weekend with a full day of rock and metal goodness.

Slipknot’s travelling festival, headlined for the second time by the band themselves, is hitting Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Friday, followed by the Brisbane Showgrounds on Sunday. Sydney fans have to wait just a wee bit longer before they get to enjoy the final stop next Saturday, March 8th.

Here’s all the key info you need to plan your day.

Lineup

After passing the headlining honours to Pantera last year, Slipknot are back to headline Knotfest Australia for the second time in three years. This time they’re doing a special career-spanning set celebrating their 25th anniversary.

A Day To Remember – who dropped a suprise new album last week – have the honour of warming up for the kings of chaos and closing the second stage. Other big drawcards on this year’s bill include Babymetal, Slaughter To Prevail and Hatebreed, while Polaris and In Hearts Wake are among the local acts.

Set Times

Gates open at 11am and the set times and schedule is pretty much a carbon copy across all three cities – with Sunami to belt out the first riffs around 11.30am, and Slipknot to close things out in all their fury a shade before 10pm. You can find the timetables for your city here.

On stage 1, the bands will perform in this order:

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Slipknot
Babymetal
Slaughter to Prevail
Enter Shikari
In Hearts Wake
Miss May I
Sunami

On stage 2, the bands will perform in this order:

A Day to Remember
Polaris
Within Temptation
Hatebreed
Health
Vended

Sideshows

A whole bunch of sideshows are also happening on the east coast. Most of them are taking place next week before the festival’s final stop in Sydney. Slipknot also have a sold-out sideshow at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Check out the full list of sideshows and head to Destroy All Lines’ website to snap up your tickets (for those that still have some left!)