Knotfest Australia has been an Aussie heavy festival mainstay for the last few years. But will we be seeing a 2026 edition, or is it done?
Knotfest has graced Aussie shores since 2023, bringing yet another heavy music festival to fans Down Under. However, it’s been pretty quiet on the western front on whether we’ll be seeing Slipknot’s own festival again in 2026.
We’re breaking down all the clues as to whether Knotfest Australia is or isn’t going ahead next year as we inch closer towards 2026 (oh dear god).
After a massive event earlier this year featuring Slipknot themselves as the headliner alongside acts like BABYMETAL and Slaughter to Prevail, plenty of punters were expecting the Knotfest Australia 2026 hype train to begin – but unlike previous years, there was no promise of more to come (it’s worth mentioning there also wasn’t a confirmation that this was the end, either).
The End, So Far?
In 2024, after the three-day run of events on Australia’s East Coast, the official Knotfest page posted a wrap-up, thanking fans for attending. As part of that post, they promised they’d be back next year, saying: “See you next year for Slipknot’s 25th Anniversary shows. Sign up for updates.” The signup link took users to a page specifically to keep in the loop for Knotfest 2025.
By comparison, the 2025 wrap-up made no mention of another instalment, instead thanking fans for their support and reflecting on the massive festival that was. Since then, the Facebook page has only posted fourteen times – ten of which were recap posts and merch plugs or giveaways in the two and a half months after the event wrapped up. The other four were promo plugs for acts on the 2025 lineup – BABYMETAL, Slaughter to Prevail, and Corey Taylor’s collab with Blackcraft.
This fact on its own isn’t particularly damning, though. The official Knotfest Australia 2025 aftermovie included a link in the comments to “register for Knotfest Australia news,” although if we’re really getting nitty-gritty with it, the link itself was simply to ‘register’ as opposed to the previous year’s link which included the phrase ‘2025 signup.’ The page was similarly pretty quiet between 2024’s edition finishing up and the announcement of the 2025 instalment.
Is All Hope Gone?
Okay, I’ll stop making Slipknot album references now, I promise.
While we can overanalyse the Knotfest Australia socials all day, perhaps one of the bigger indicators that we’re not getting a 2026 edition is the new heavy music festival on the block: Park Waves.
Parkway Drive’s own music festival was announced in early July, boasting 11 dates across Australia (with some regional love in there for good measure). Those dates run across multiple weekends in mid-February through to mid-March – prime Knotfest Australia dates, based on previous years.
For reference, Knotfest Australia’s previous tour dates have been: 24-26 March (2023), 21-24th March (2024), and 28th February, 2nd and 8th March (2025). The Park Waves dates fall smack bang in the middle of the festival’s usual runtime – a potentially concerning clash for those hoping for a 2026 edition.
To add fuel to the (potential) fire, promoter Destroy All Lines (also behind Good Things Festival) is working alongside Parkway Drive to put on Park Waves. Knotfest Australia has previously been presented by DAL, too. Interestingly, Park Waves got a run on the aforementioned festival’s website when it was announced, with an official Knotfest premium presale on offer according to that post.
Is Park Waves replacing Knotfest as one of Australia’s major heavy music festivals? It’s not particularly clear-cut, and given the new festival is on a much smaller scale lineup size-wise, we can’t say so with confidence.
So, What Now, Knotfest?
This is all to say that at this stage, we just don’t know if we’ll be getting a Knotfest Australia 2026 run. The 2025 event was officially announced on October 13, 2024 – so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could see a surprise return announcement later this year.
We’ve reached out to the Knotfest Australia representatives for comment, but as of yet haven’t received a response – we’ll update this piece should we get one.
While we (and we’re sure many others) are hoping to see the festival get another year Down Under, it looks like we’ll just have to wait and see whether the Knotfest team themselves confirm anything (or nothing) to come down the line.
At least in the meantime we’ve got multiple other great Aussie festivals celebrating heavy and alternative music to hit up.
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