Here are seven significant events that occurred at Hellfest 2026.

The festival took place in Clisson, France from June 18 to June 21. This four-day event featured headliners such as Iron Maiden, Limp Bizkit, Bring Me the Horizon, and the Offspring, along with performances from Deep Purple, Volbeat, Bad Omens, Papa Roach, Rise Against, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Anthrax, The Pretty Reckless, and many other artists.

As with nearly every major rock and metal festival worldwide, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most notable happenings over the four days for fans who couldn’t attend to catch up on what transpired at the event.

1. A Huge Ozzy Osbourne Statue Was Unveiled at the Entrance (And They Had a Tribute)

Hellfest attendees were greeted by a massive statue of Ozzy Osbourne at the front entrance, created by French artist Philippe Pasqua and standing six meters tall. Sharon Osbourne expressed gratitude to the festival for honoring her late husband in such a grand manner, although she was unable to attend the unveiling due to an unspecified hospital visit.

The festival also held a special tribute to the Prince of Darkness on its first night, which concluded with a fireworks display. See fan-filmed footage below.

Ozzy Osbourne Tribute (Hellfest 2026)

2. Breaking Benjamin’s Set Marked Their First-Ever Performance in France

Breaking Benjamin played an 11-song set on the first day of the festival, marking their first-ever live performance in France [via Setlist.fm]. One might assume that a band with decades of experience would have toured Europe multiple times by now; however, frontman Ben Burnley’s intense fear of flying may explain their absence.

The frontman traveled by boat to reach Europe for the band’s tour. In an interview with Jesea Lee, he admitted that he wasn’t particularly fond of boat travel either.

“I’m really in the wrong profession. And I don’t like traveling or speed in any way. I don’t like going fast. I certainly don’t like being high… So I’m not that comfortable with [the ship] either. It’s just you pick the lesser of the evils, kind of thing,” the vocalist explained.

3. Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos Joined Bring Me the Horizon Onstage

Bring Me the Horizon headlined Hellfest on Thursday night and invited Lorna Shore vocalist Will Ramos to join them for a song during their 15-track set (see their full setlist here). Ramos joined the group for the Sempiternal song “Antivist,” which BMTH frontman Oli Sykes typically invites an audience member to sing along with.

“Be nice to him, even if he’s shit, alright,” Sykes sarcastically told the crowd.

Ramos took lead vocals for a significant portion of the song, with Sykes joining in later before they performed the remainder as a duet.

See a video of the performance below.

Bring Me the Horizon featuring Will Ramos, “Antivist” (Live at Hellfest)

4. Sepultura’s Set Was Their Last-Ever Performance in France

In contrast to Breaking Benjamin’s set, Sepultura’s performance on June 19 was their last-ever show in France. The group is currently on their farewell tour, with their final concert scheduled for this November in Brazil.

They played 11 songs during their Hellfest set and featured special guests including Alissa White-Gluz and members of Crypta, Kreator, and Megadeth during the instrumental song “Kaiowas.” They concluded their performance with a shortened version of “Roots Bloody Roots” [via Setlist.fm].

5. Cavalera Conspiracy Had to Cancel Their Set Following Bus Crash

Max and Iggor Cavalera’s group Cavalera Conspiracy had to withdraw from the festival on the day they were scheduled to perform (June 20) due to a bus crash that fortunately was not as severe as it could have been. They were set to play Sepultura’s Chaos A.D. in full during their show.

They shared a statement on social media on the day of their scheduled performance:

Cavalera regretfully are unable to perform today at Hellfest due to an unforeseen accident yesterday. We are very grateful for the driver’s skills at preventing what could have been a deadly bus crash. The band is devastated not to be able to bring Chaos A.D. to this great festival and to our French fans. We hope to return with our Chaos in the future. X Max & Iggor

Cavalera Conspiracy received numerous supportive comments from fellow rockers including Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Alissa White-Gluz, Roberto “Ra” Diaz, Roy Mayorga, Dirk Verbeuren, and others.

Their next show is scheduled for tomorrow night (June 23) in Sweden. See all of their upcoming dates on their website.

6. Charlie Benante Had to Sit Out Anthrax’s Set Due to Injury

Charlie Benante had to sit out his set with Anthrax due to an injury he recently sustained. Thus drummer Darby Todd filled in for him at the festival and will continue doing so for several upcoming shows.

Todd previously filled in on drums during Anthrax’s May 23 show at Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece; however, Benante was able to return for all performances through June 18.

“I wanted to let everyone know that I unfortunately injured my right hand and following my doctor’s orders I’ll be sitting out several shows from June 20 through July 4 to allow it proper time to heal,” Benante wrote in a post on social media on June 20.

“I’m incredibly grateful that Darby Todd will be stepping in behind the kit for these dates and helping keep the shows rolling while I recover.”

See his full post below along with photos of Anthrax’s performance from the festival underneath.

7. It Was Hot as Hell

Hellfest sounds like it would be hot; however, temperatures were reportedly so high at certain points over the weekend that organizers had to issue alerts and actually prohibit alcohol consumption on June 21 to prevent attendees from becoming overly dehydrated.

“Following the red heatwave alert and recommendations from the prefecture, your safety is our priority. As such, alcohol consumption will be restricted this Sunday at the festival,” one alert stated [via Reddit].

Alcohol consumption wasn’t completely banned; however, bars were instructed not to sell hard liquor and there was a strict limit on beer and wine sales.

Additionally, festival alerts advised parents against bringing minors on Sunday. According to some social media reports, temperatures at Clisson reached nearly 104 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.

Read the full alert as shared by a fan on Reddit below.

heat warning to hellfest 2026 attendees

Find out what other rock and metal festivals are happening throughout 2026 in the gallery below.