As a result of the latest events, we are sorry to announce that DOWN has to cancel their venue in Europe and thus won’t play in Hellfest 2016. We are glad to propose the band PUSCIFER (Featuring James Maynard > Tool‘s singer) as a replacement. The latter will perform under the Valley on Sunday, June 19th and as for FU MANCHU, they’ll play as headliners on Saturday, 18th. We’ll keep you aware of all the schedules. Stay tuned.
We also wanted to thank you again for the big support that you showed when we had to make a decision after Anselmo’s case! Here is the artist’s statement :

“Dearest Ben-
Philip H. Anselmo here Brother…
First, and foremost, there is NO WAY I can possibly thank you enough for “fighting the good fight” for me, and ALL of my bands, namely Down in this instance. Your love & backbone will never be forgotten, and from this point on through the rest of my fighting life, I owe you every ounce of praise!
My AWFUL mistake has taken a toll on my reputation, and justly so! However I must point out, you damned-well KNOW ME better than this drunken incident could ever describe.
Hellfest is my heart!!!
And my embarrassment is tremendous, because I only have LOVE for people all over this skirmishing earth.
So my brother, it fucking rips my heart into further pieces to let you know, I don’t think I should do ANY Euro festivals this year.
So PLEASE I BEG YOU, give me this time to get my brain clear, and to come back (if you will have me back) next year my brother, I implore you!
Plus, the re-emergence of the knee injuries have been plaguing me of late as well, so I must address this too, through physical rehabilitation & rest.
Knowing my character, when I put my mind to something THIS DIRE, I come back 100-times better, and THAT’S what the Mighty Hellfest deserves!!!
My love for you & the rest of the gang that makes Hellfest THE TOPS, goes on and on and on…
Much love & respect-
Philip H. Anselmo (and the H. stands for HEALING)”

Wenn man über die größten und wichtigsten Festivals in Europa spricht, dann fallen generell immer 2 Namen: Wacken und das Hellfest in Frankreich. Wo in Wacken, auch dank der großen Medienpräsenz, mittlerweile mehr Tourismus als Metal an der Tagesordnung ist, findet das Hellfest eigentlich nur in der Fachpresse für Metalheads statt. Das ist sehr schade, da hier jeder dem Wacken mittlerweile zu viel Ballermann und zuwenig Metal ist, genau das in Frankreich auf dem Hellfest bekommt, was man vom Branchenriesen aus Deutschland eigentlich erwartet, 3 Tage die Vollbedienung an Metal. Alleine die Namen der letzten Jahre sprechen hier eine eine sehr deutliche Sprache. Auch in diesem Jahr, welche in der Zwischenzeit die 11. Auflage ist, bietet das Billing alles was das Metaller Herz höher schlagen lässt. Und das in einem Umfeld, welches ansonsten in Europa unerreicht ist.
Mehr Infos und Tickets gibt es unter www.hellfest.fr

(C) Pictures : Hellfest.fr