Hellfest

Hellfest, France's largest heavy metal and hard rock festival, happens every June at Clisson, a small wine town about half an hour by train south of Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique department of western France. The festival has grown from a French underground gathering into one of the biggest metal events on earth, drawing tens of thousands of people a day to fields on the edge of a town otherwise known for its Italianate architecture, its medieval château and its Muscadet vineyards. Nantes, the regional capital, is the natural base: trains run frequently along the short line, the city has the hotels, and the festival's own audience flies in through Nantes Atlantique airport.

This guide covers the facts that matter for planning a trip: the confirmed dates, what tickets cost and how scarce they are, the train and driving options from Nantes, where to sleep, and what to do in Clisson and Nantes before the music starts each afternoon. The detail pages on getting around Nantes without a car and the Pass Nantes tourist pass cover the city side of the trip in more depth.

What Is Hellfest And Where Exactly Does It Happen?

Hellfest is a four-day open-air heavy metal festival held each June at Clisson, a town of vineyards and medieval ramparts in the Loire-Atlantique department of western France, roughly half an hour from Nantes by regional train. The 2027 edition, the festival's 20th anniversary, runs 17 to 20 June with around 300 groups performing across 10 stages, and daily attendance runs at roughly 60,000 to 70,000 people.

The site sits on the festival grounds at the edge of Clisson, next to the wooded valley of the Moine. Clisson itself is worth a sentence or two before the amplifiers take over. The town's centre was rebuilt in the 19th century in an Italianate style, its château stands on a rocky spur, and the surrounding hills produce Muscadet, the Melon de Bourgogne-based white wine of the Nantes region. The Maison des vins de la Muscadet appellation is based at Vallet, a short drive away. Festivalgoers arriving from Nantes pass through this landscape on the way in, and many of them linger in it between sets.

The scale is the thing that surprises first-time visitors. Around 300 groups across 10 stages means the 2027 anniversary edition is programmed at a density few European festivals match, and the daily jauge of roughly 60,000 to 70,000 puts Hellfest in the same weight class as the largest camping festivals anywhere. The site mixes two enormous main stages with much smaller tents, so a single day can move from a headline set in front of tens of thousands to a handful of people in a garage-rock tent within a ten-minute walk.

When Is Hellfest 2027 And How Did The 2026 Edition Go?

Hellfest 2027 runs Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 June 2027 at Clisson, and it is the festival's 20th anniversary edition. The 2026 edition took place 18 to 21 June 2026. For the anniversary, the organisers have announced around 300 groups across 10 stages, the biggest programme in the festival's history, with the daily capacity unchanged at roughly 60,000-70,000. Four-day passes went on sale and sold out quickly.

The dates to plan around, in one place:

Two practical notes follow from those dates. First, mid-June in this part of France is early summer: the Météo-France 1991-2020 normals for the Nantes-Bouguenais station give a June mean maximum of 23.0 °C, so sun and warm evenings are likely but the full range of Atlantic weather is possible. Our Nantes weather page covers what to pack. Second, the timing overlaps the start of the main tourist season, so Nantes hotels fill for those weekends well before the line-up is even complete; the guide to where to stay in Nantes explains the districts.

How Much Do Hellfest Tickets Cost And How Do You Get One?

A four-day pass for Hellfest 2027 is priced considerably higher than the previous edition, with additional fees on top, and the four-day passes sold out quickly after release. The festival provides an official resale channel for sold-out passes. One-day passes are expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2027. The anniversary expansion to around 300 groups across 10 stages is the programme change behind the price rise.

Ticket strategy matters more here than at most festivals. The four-day passes disappear fast, the official resale exists precisely because demand runs far ahead of supply, and the one-day passes arriving in early 2027 are the last realistic route in for people who missed the main sale. Anyone planning around a specific band should watch the line-up announcements and the resale listings rather than assuming a pass will still be there in spring.