WHERE
JOC Ieper, Belgium, Maarschalk Fochlaan 3. Ieper is situated in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, in the so-called H8000 area (legendary among HC kids worldwide) and just 15 km away from the French border. The closest bigger cities are Kortrijk (BE) & Lille (FR). Ieper is a cosy town with just 35.000 inhabitants, internationally known as one of the war fields during both the first & second World Wars.
WHO’S IN CHARGE
Ieperfest is organised by 2 Belgian, not-for-profit DIY collectives sharing the same geographical & ideological roots: Republyk Vort’n Vis & Genet records. They represent over 25 years of experience of organising & promoting underground events. By joining hands, they manage to make the mother of all European underground hardcore festivals the big success it has always been. Profits (if any) are split up between both collectives who re-invest them in their future projects. Check http://www.vortnvis.net & http://www.genetrecords.com to learn more about the organisers.
WHAT
Ieperfest is an independent 3-day Hardcore festival that is taking place for the 29th time in 2023. Year after year we try to offer an excellent mix of all sorts of styles by bands from all over the world. Old school hardcore, metalcore, doom, emo, metal, grindcore, postrock, punk, sludge, etc. You name it, you get it.
STAGES
We have three stages: an indoor stage, outdoor stage and our more than music stage. More info on the picture below.
Ieperfest is not only the longest running outdoor underground festival in Europe, but also a household name across the world. We offer a stage to an international variety of underground bands. Back in the day hardcore was not as popular and mainstream accepted as it is nowadays. It was far from easy but we worked hard and managed to keep the festival alive. We saw it evolving from a small scale festival to an event with over 10.000 visitors from all over the world. Ieperfest has no major budgets or sponsors and we do our own thing, i.e. booking a festival for bands we like and that we think should be heard. Each year over 120 volunteers make it all happen. The “DIY” spirit is still roaming around here!!
The international importance of the festival for the DIY hardcore community is huge! Over the years we’ve welcomed visitors from countries such as Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium (duh!), Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, USA, Wales, etc.
Record & merch geeks will surely appreciate the large merch tent. All bands get a spot to sell their shirts and records. On top of that a selected amount of labels and distros are invited. They offer the best newest releases as well as rarities and overstocks!
Friday and Saturday evening end with a tremendous party!! Ask anyone that has attended one in the past and they will tell you about an international crowd going wild on disco and other nice dance tunes (specific theme each evening). The atmosphere is crazy and many band members seem to be more than happy to join in!
MORE THAN MUSIC
Ieperfest is not just about music however. Since its very start, the “more than music” stage has proven to be a huge success. In a separate tent, debate and a bunch of workshops are being held. Several non-governmental organizations are given the chance to present themselves by means of a free stall. Interesting documentaries are being shown all day and the ever expanding zine library is a surprise to many visitors.
MULTIPLE GREEN AWARDS
On top of that, Ieperfest has won the Flemish OVAM ‘Green Event award’ every single time we’ve participated in the competition (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015) and on top of that we have won the ‘OVAM Lifetime Achievement Award’! It’s great to be among the greenest fests in the country. We’ve also been shortlisted in the category ‘Green Operations’ at the European Festival Awards AND won the ‘Groene Pluim’ from the city of Ieper. We see it as the ultimate appreciation for all environmental friendly efforts (e.g. offering 100% tasty vegan food only) Ieperfest has been investing in since the very start in 1992. Setting up an event like this always leaves its mark on the environment, but by investing time ánd money into the matter, we contribute to making this mark considerably smaller!
SOME OF THE LEGENDARY ACTS WE WELCOMED OVER THE YEARS:
Abhinanda, Aborted, Acme, Active Minds, Adolescents, Agathocles, Agent Orange, Agnostic Front, All Out War, All Shall Perish, Amenra, And So I Watch You From Afar, Angel Crew, Angel Du$t, Annotations Of An Autopsy, Another Breath, Antidote Nyhc, Antisect, Architects, Arkangel, As Friends Rust, As We Fight, Aussitôt Mort, Authority Zero, Backfire!, Backtrack, Bandanos, Bane, Bathtub Shitter, The Berzerker, Betrayed, Bishops Green, The Black Dahlia Murder, Black Flag, Black Friday ’29, The Black Heart Rebellion, Blacklisted, Bleed From Within, Blind To Faith, Bloodclot, Blood For Blood, Bloody Phoenix, Bold, Bolt Thrower, Born/dead, Born From Pain, The Boss, Boysetsfire, Breakdown, Brutality Will Prevail, Bury Your Dead, Caliban, Cancer Bats, Career Suicide, Carpathian, The Carrier, Cataract, Catharsis, Cattle Decapitation, Cdc, Cephalic Carnage, Ceremony, The Chariot, Children Of Fall, Chimaera, Chokehold, Ch3, Chuck Ragan, Church Of Misery, Circle, Circle Takes The Square, Code Orange Kids, Coffins, Coke Bust, Cold As Life, Cold World, Comeback Kid, Common Cause, Conan, Conflict, Confronto, Congress, Converge, Corrosion Of Conformity, Crawlspace, Cro-mags, Crowbar, Crown Of Thornz, Cruel Hand, Culture, Danny Diablo, Darkest Hour, Dead Kennedys, Deadlock, Deadsoil, Dead Stop, Death Before Dishonor, Death By Stereo, Decapitated, Deez Nuts, Deformity, Despair, Despised Icon, Diablo Boulevard, The Dickies, Die My Demon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Discarga, Disembodied, D.o.a., Dog Eat Dog, Do Or Die, Downset, Down To Nothing, Dropdead, Dying Fetus, Earthmover, Ef, The Effort, Ensign, E-town Concrete, Evergreen Terrace, Exhumed, Exodus, Expire, Eyehategod, Fabulous Disaster, Facedowninshit, Face To Face, Fall Of Serenity, Fear My Thoughts, Fear Of God, 50 Lions, First Blood, Folsom, Forensics, For The Fallen Dreams, For The Glory, Fucked Up, Full Of Hell, Funeral For A Friend, The Get Up Kids, Ghostlimb, Good Clean Fun, Gorilla Biscuits, Grade, Grand Magus, H8 Inc, Have Heart, Havok, Heaven Shall Burn, Hellbastard, Himsa, Hoods, Horse The Band, Hot Water Music, H2o, Ignite, I Killed The Prom Queen, Incantation, Indigesti, Integrity, Intensity, I Shot Cyrus, Jello Biafra & The Gsom, Jesu, Jonah Matranga, Jr Ewing, Jucifer, Jungle Rot, Justice, Kaospilot, Karma To Burn, Keith Caputo, The Kids, Xkingdomx, King Nine, Knuckledust, Knut, Kosjer D, Kvelertak, Kylesa, La Dispute, Leftover Crack, Leiah, Leng Tch’e, Length Of Time, Let It Burn, Lewd Acts, Liar, The Locust, Loma Prieta, Madball, Magrudergrind, The Mahones, Mainstrike, Majority Rule, Malevolent Creation, Maroon, Martyrdöd, Maudlin, Maximum Penalty, Mdc, Mental, Meshuggah, Metroschifter, Miles Away, Misery Index, Misery Signals, Mondo Generator, The Mongoloids, Morda, Morning Again, Mörser, Most Precious Blood, Mucky Pup, Municipal Waste, Murphy’s Law, Mxpx Allstars, Napalm Death, Nasty, Neaera, New Mexican Disaster Squad, Nasum, Next Step Up, Nine, Ninebar, Norma Jean, No Trigger, No Turning Back, No Warning, No Zodiac, Nueva Etica, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Das Oath, Oathbreaker, The Ocean, The Old Firm Casuals, 100 Demons, 108, On, Orange Goblin, Origin, Paint It Black, Panthers, Parkway Drive, Pianos Become The Teeth, Pig Destroyer, Point Of No Return, Polar Bear Club, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Pulling Teeth, Purification, Raein, Rafflesia, Raised Fist, Ratos De Porao, Reagan Youth, The Real Mckenzies, Red Dons, Reflux, Refused, Reign Supreme, Reiziger, Rejuvenate, Remembering Never, Reproach, Repulsion, Requiem, Restless Youth, The Revisions, Ringworm, Rise And Fall, The Rites, Ruiner, Satanic Surfers, Scraps, The Secret, Seein’ Red, See You Next Tuesday, Sektor, Separation, Serene, Settle The Score, The Setup, Set Your Goals, 7 Seconds, Shai Hulud, Sheer Terror, Shipwreck, Sick Of It All, Six Ft. Ditch, Skarhead, Skeletonwitch, Snfu, Some Girls, Soul Control, The Spectacle, Sss, Starkweather, Steak Number Eight, Stigmata, Street Dogs, Strength Approach, Strength For A Reason, Strife, Strike Anywhere, Stupids, Suffocation, Sunpower, Surge Of Fury, Swashbuckle, Swing Kids, Switchblade, Sworn Enemy, Syndrome, Terror, Terrorizer, Terveet Kadet, Test Of Time, Textures, This Is A Standoff, Total Chaos, Touche Amore, Toxic Holocaust, Trapped Under Ice, Trash Talk, Trc, Trigger The Bloodshed, True Colors, Tsol, Turnstile, 25 Ta Life, Unborn, Unearth, Unit 731, Vaccine, Valient Thorr, Vanilla, Verse, Victims, Vitamin X, Voivod, Voorhees, Warhound, Whitechapel, A Wilhelm Scream, Wisdom In Chains, With Love, Year Future, Your Demise, Zero Mentality … The List Is Endless!!
IEPER HARDCORE FEST 