2016 marks the 10th Anniversary of SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL and is set to be it’s biggest since it started in 2006!
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL has won ‘Best Festival’ at the Kerrang! Awards in both 2014 & 2015. Widely regarded as the biggest awards in rock, the festival beat strong competition from major events such as Reading / Leeds and Download. Slam Dunk has also been in the final shortlists for ‘Best Metropolitan Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards, in 2013, 2014 & 2015, and ‘Best Festival’ (up to 15,000 daily capacity) at The Live UK Awards 2015.
Next year will see some huge upgrades to the event, continuing the huge year on year growth the festival has experienced. Following the success of last year the Leeds site will remain in the City Centre, with a new site being announced at the Birmingham NEC and the Southern date will remain in Hatfield, at the University of Hertfordshire campus for the fifth year. This will bring the capacity up to a huge 40,000 fans across the weekend.
So who else is playing? Well, we still have over 40+ bands still to announce over 7 stages, but get excited for the first bands right now...
OF MICE & MEN will make their return to the festival after their triumphant set back in 2012 which thrilled crowds across all 3 dates. The band have graced every rock magazine cover multiple times this year in support of their massive album ‘Restoring Force: Full Circle’. This will be their first UK appearance in 2016 since their sold out headline run earlier this year.
Slam Dunk crowd favourites, NEW FOUND GLORY will be playing the festival as their exclusive UK shows of 2016’- “We are super excited to be returning to Slam Dunk, and even more excited to help share in the 10th anniversary of the festival! It’s been quite a while since we last played Slam Dunk, but my favourite memories always stem from the fact that there are usually so many bands that we are friends with that take part in the festival, so it’s a great way to catch up with friends and spend time with bands that we’ve toured with, and it’s an awesome time for all involved.”
FOUR YEAR STRONG will be playing in support of their incredible new record that came out earlier this year via Pure Noise Records. Their singer Dan says “I remember SLAM DUNK being one of the first fests to have us in the UK and was one of the best shows we had ever played there. We always love playing SDF because we know the shows are going to be insane and the crowd is going to show up ready to get crazy.“
The legends that are EVERYTIME I DIE will be returning to the festival after having to sadly postpone some UK dates. Singer Keith Buckley is excited to return to the festival after their last performance “everyone seemed to be having the best time of their lives”. Expect a re-run in 2016.
ISSUES will be bringing the party to SLAM DUNK 2016. With a new record in the works "The boys and I are more than ecstatic to be back in the UK, especially to be back in festival mode! Love the festival fans, they get crazy, be ready for us... We are bringing to heat!! #trollied hahaha!!” says vocalist Tyler Carter.
Texan metalcore heavyweights MEMPHIS MAY FIRE, will also be returning to the festival - “We are honoured to come back to the UK for Slam Dunk! Last time was a blast & we expect this time to be even better!“ says vocalist Matty Mullins
Self-proclaimed “Illinois sad boys” or rather just excellent emo pop-punk band REAL FRIENDS are “very stoked to come back to the UK and play Slam Dunk”. Singer Kyle Fasel continues to say “We had a blast when we played in 2014. Slam Dunk is really unique in comparison to festivals in the US. The kids out there seem so committed to attending the festival every year. It makes us happy to see such a strong staple in the UK music scene that always welcomes us”
Along with this massive first band announcement, the other big news for the 10th Anniversary is the site move for the Midlands event. After 3 years in Wolverhampton City Centre, the event will now be taking place at The NEC in Birmingham. This will actually be the first time a multi stage music festival takes place at the world famous venue, using a combination of the Genting Arena, indoor Pavilions and outdoor stages around them. This much bigger new site also boasts the fact it is the best connected venue in the UK, being the only venue with an onsite airport and train station. The site is also located next to the heart of the UKs motorway network with masses of onsite parking. Add to that all the onsite hotels and leisure facilities, this will surely make this the most convenient festival ever, from wherever in the UK, or indeed the World, people are travelling from.
The dates and sites for next years' SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL are:
Saturday 28 May 2016 - SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL North - Leeds City Centre
Sunday 29 May 2016 - SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL Midlands – Birmingham, NEC
Bank Holiday Monday 30 May 2016- SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL South – Hatfield, University of Hertfordshire
Published on 25 November 2015 by Ben Robinson
