Damnation Festival is an annual one-day heavy metal music festival currently held at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. It was held at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester from 2005 to 2006 and then University of Leeds from 2007 until 2021. It is organised by Gavin McInally and Paul Farrington.^[1]

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The first Damnation Festival was held on 16 October 2005 at Jilly's Rockworld, Manchester, England. Fifteen bands performed on two stages, headlined by Raging Speedhorn and Entombed.^[2]

The second annual Damnation Festival was held on 15 October 2006 at Jilly's Rockworld, Manchester, England. Fourteen bands performed on two stages, headlined by The Haunted and Akercocke.^[3]

The third annual Damnation Festival was held on 20 October 2007 at Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, England. There were eighteen bands performing on two stages, headlined by Kreator and Anaal Nathrakh.^[4]

The fourth annual Damnation Festival was held on 22 November 2008 and saw the festival move to another new venue at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The change of venues allowed the festival to expand to three stages incorporating seventeen bands headlined by Carcass, Cathedral and Pitchshifter.^[5]

British band Raging Speedhorn were initially booked to play their last show at the festival, but cancelled in favour of a last tour in Japan. Carcass would make this show their only UK show on their comeback tour.

The fifth annual Damnation Festival was held on 24 October 2009 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The organizers announced the festival would again cover three stages but open doors earlier to prevent clashes between bands.^[6] The headline acts for 2009 were Life of Agony, Lock Up and Jesu.

Life of Agony's headline slot was their only UK appearance in 2009.^[7]

This appearance was Mistress's last show and Rotting Christ's only English show for 2009.^[8]

Negura Bunget and Extreme Noise Terror were originally booked to play the Terrorizer stage but both pulled out. Negura Bunget played a make up set in May 2010 at sister festival Deathfest.

On 3 June Entombed were announced on the festival line up. On 23 June the bands management issued a statement announcing that the band would not appear at the festival.^[9]

The sixth annual Damnation Festival was held on 6 November 2010 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The Dillinger Escape Plan and Paradise Lost^[10] co-headlined the Jägermeister Stage, whilst Discharge headlined the Terrorizer stage and Alcest the Rock Sound Stage.

The seventh annual Damnation Festival was held on 5 November 2011 at University of Leeds, Leeds, England. The festival covered three stages, headlined by Devin Townsend Project, Ulver and God is an Astronaut.^[11]

Decapitated were forced to pull out after surviving a plane crash. Returning from their US tour, the plane was forced to make a landing with no landing gear in their native Poland.^[12]

The Eighth annual Damnation Festival was held across three stages at the University of Leeds student union, Leeds, England, on Saturday 3 November.

The ninth annual Damnation Festival was held across four stages at the University of Leeds student union, Leeds, England, on Saturday 2 November. The event was headlined by Carcass in their only UK headlining show of 2013 following the release of their new album.

The 10th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 1 November and featured a total of 26 bands across four stages. The sold out event saw a crowd of approximately 4000 in attendance.

Headliners for the event were UK death-metal act Bolt Thrower who played their only UK performance for 2014 at the festival.^[13] October File were booked to play the festival but were forced to withdraw prior to the event, they were replaced by Dyscarnate.

The 11th Damnation Festival was held at Leeds University Union on Saturday 7 November and featured a total of 27 bands across four stages. The event was headlined by At the Gates.

Damnation festival was canceled in 2020 due to ongoing regulations around music venues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Green Lung were originally booked to play the Eyesore Merch Stage but had to pull out due to a member of the band testing positive for Covid-19. They were replaced by Svalbard.

4 exclusive sets were played the Day Before

Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?

Akercocke - Goat of Mendes

Raging Speedhorn - Raging Speedhorn

Orange Goblin - 1 Track per Album

The festival was held at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester for the first time. The festival is now the largest indoor metal festival in Europe.^[14] Ministry (band) were originally booked to headline the festival but pulled out due to the cancellation of their European tour. Godflesh were announced as the replacement as well as four exclusive full album performances:

• Converge - Jane Doe
• At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
• Godflesh - Streetcleaner
• Pig Destroyer - Prowler In The Yard

Ahab were originally booked to play the Eyesore Merch Stage but pulled out due to illness. They were replaced by Bossk.