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| Photo Credit: hillsofrock.com |
Hill of Rock is the coolest, perhaps the biggest rock music festival in Bulgaria, which takes place annually in Plovdiv since 2017. The event features some of the world's most popular rock bands over the course of three days. Covid-19 caused the cancellation of last year's show (2021), but 2022 is totally happening as the line-ups are officially announced. The event will take place at Plovdiv Regatta Venue. Three stages and 30 bands from around the globe will take part in this festival. Here is everything you need to know about Hills of Rock Plovdiv:
It's A Massive Event
Hills of Rock is considered an underrated event because of its young age. It's a rock music festival first and foremost. People have very different tastes in music. So, this festival is mostly under the radar of rock music fans. At the time of writing this article, Hills of Rock's Facebook page indicates that 6.7 k people will attend and 12.7 k people are interested in attending to the festival. Keep in mind that it is a life statistic 8 months prior to the festival. We will give some idea of the importance and scale of this event by listing a few of the past performers and the line-up for 2022 for those unfamiliar with it. If you don't happen to be a big rock music fan, you might want to do a quick Google search about some of the performers to see how many millions of followers they have worldwide.
Hills of Rock 2017:
Headliners included Epica, Evanescence, Three Days Grace, Guano Apes, and the Bulgarian bands Control, PIF, Review, and Medikus plus another 26 world stars and rock bands from Balkan countries. Here is a moment from the Hills of Rock 2017:
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| Photo Credit: hillsofrock.com |
This year's headliners were Iron Maiden, Sabaton and Judas Priest. The lineup also included FISH, Battle Beast, Reaven and punk band Kultur Shock. Several of the best Balkan bands played there, as well: the Greek Planet of Zeus and Koza Mostra, the Croatian Cold Snap and ABOP, as well as the Slovenes Raggalution. Here is the aftermovie of 2018 Hills of Rock:
Hills of Rock 2019:
The first headliners of the 2019 festival were Disturbed, Whitesnake, and Garbage! These are some of the most successful rock bands of modern times, with millions of fans worldwide and billions of views and streams on YouTube and Spotify combined. Here is the aftermovie of 2019 Festival:
Hills of Rock 2022
It is the much-awaited Hills of Rock event as the 2020 - 2021 events were canceled because of Covid-19. But now the wait is over! Hill of Rock 2022 is officially announced and will take place on July 21st - 23rd at the Plovdiv Rowing Canal (Regatta Venue). Even the full line up has been revealed on the Hills of Rock official website.
Slipknot, Sabaton, and Mercyful Fate are the headliners of the Hills of Rock 2022.
American heavy metal band Slipknot was formed in 1995 in Des Moines, Iowa, by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray. Six studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one demo album, twenty-six singles, five video albums and twenty-seven music videos have been released by Slipknot.
Sabaton is a heavy metal band from Falun, Sweden. They feature war themes on most of their nine albums. They reached the top of the Swedish and German music charts with their latest album The Great War (2019). The band has released nine studio albums, including Carolus Rex, certified gold in Poland and platinum in Sweden with 40,000 album sales, making it the band's "most successful Swedish heavy metal album ever".
Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate was formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Mercyful Fate, influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and occult topics, were part of the first wave of black metal in the early to mid-1980s, along with Venom and Bathory. Mercyful Fate has seven studio albums, three compilations, three singles, and six videos.
However, these are just the tip of the iceberg. Over 30 rock bands from across the country and around the world will perform at the three-day event. Here is rest of the full line up:
HEAVEN SHALL BURN / BEHEMOTH / TESTAMENT / RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR / BURY TOMORROW / DAGOBA / MAJESTICA / MISTER MISERY / NERVOSA / RAVENFACE / THE MODERN AGE SLAVERY / KLOGR / NIGHTLAND / 5RAND / HANGARVAIN / TENSIDE / FALLCIE / POWER CRUE / DISTRICT 13 / 40 DAYS LATER / BASSKA / HELLION STONE / HOMEOVOX / BAILDSA / SIN SEEKAS / K.O.R.A. / OGI 23 / KONKURENT / MILENA & BAND / PIZZZA / THIS BURNING DAY / SCROLETICS / JIN MONIC / SILUET / KERANA & KOSMONAVTITE / SEVEROZAPADNYATSITE / DEAD MAN’S HAT / BOOMERANG / ARTIFICIAL COMET
Other Useful information You Need to Know About This Festival
Once you enter the Festival area, you are not allowed to leave the area and enter it again during that day for security reasons. However, you are permitted to enter the Festival at any time.
Hills of Rock is a cashless event. Payments can be made at the Festival area using the Hills of Rock Special payment cards. A number of locations will be available for you in the festival area to pick up and top up your cards.
(You can now use your personal debit or credit contactless Mastercard® to make payments for the first time in Hills of Rock's history. You can only do this if you own a contactless Mastercard®, regardless of the issuing bank.)
There will be a camping area for those who want to experience the true festival atmosphere. Camping ticket holders can stay within walking distance of the festival, set up their tents, and enjoy three days of great fun with their favorite artists. Note that only tents are allowed - campers and camper vans are not permitted!
The ticket price is 100 BGN for one day. Note that Slipknot will perform on the first day of the festival, Mercyful Fate on the second day and Sabaton on the final day. Tickets for entire festival (3 days ) are priced at 160 BGN. You can purchase your tickets here.
If you travelling from outside of the country, check this useful article about how to arrive to Plovdiv:
Most Convinient Ways to Reach to Plovdiv
Please note that this article will get regular updates as we receive more information about the festival.
