Wildfest 2025: The end of the road
Wildfest is the name of a cozy indoor festival in a small town of Geraardsbergen, Belgium. Since 2016 it has opened the doors for music lovers from all over the world. And every year around end of May, this small peaceful town turned into real rock’n’roll mayhem.
Wildfest has always invited the coolest hard rock, glam, sleaze and aor bands from different countries. This festival has been a true gem for all 80s hair metal lovers.
Unfortunately, as we know – all good things come to an end and Wildfest haven’t escaped this fate. This year it was the final edition, the last ride on a crazy rollercoaster full of awesome music, fun, party and debauchery.
The lineup was more than impressive, all the coolest bands who had already played at Wildfest during the last past years: Crazy Lixx, The Cruel Intentions, Art Nation and Bulletrain from Sweden, Shiraz Lane from Finland, Blackrain from France, Kickin Valentina from USA, The Treatment and South of Salem from UK, Wildheart, All I know and Mr Myst from Belgium and Maverick from Northern Ireland.
All tickets were sold out in advance, it’s the first time I’ve seen a festival where all tickets are sold out days before and you can’t buy any at the door. But at the same time it’s not a surprise, the venue was so full!
I spoke with many people in the audience about this festival and their experience there. Turns out that the majority of people had come to Wildfest every year, everybody knows each other, it’s like a small family reunion for glam metal fans.
But I have to admit, sometimes I’ve seen more people outside than inside of the venue, so it was hard to understand whether people came just to party and get crazy or they came to see their favorite bands only. This way or another, everybody was very happy and in the end of the day nobody left the venue sober or unsatisfied.
Surely, this year it was a bittersweet sensation for many fans and bands, since it was the very last time all together. And truly, it was a fantastic time to remember. Hopefully, someday somebody can revive this event and bring all the joy and great music back. As for now, Wildfest says goodbye and all we can do is to cherish all the great memories accumulated there over the years.
