Dynamo Open Air
Dynamo Open Air was an annual open-air heavy metal music festival held primarily in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 1986 to 2005, renowned for attracting tens of thousands of attendees and featuring prominent acts in the genre.[1] Originating from events at the Dynamo Youth Centre, the festival was founded by André Verhuysen, who began hosting live metal shows there in 1981, evolving into the first outdoor edition in 1986 on the centre's car park with bands like Satan, Angelwitch, and Onslaught drawing 5,000 fans.[1] Over its nearly two-decade run, Dynamo Open Air grew significantly, relocating multiple times due to expanding crowds; by 1994, it became Europe's largest metal gathering with 70,000 attendees, causing notable traffic disruptions, and peaked at approximately 120,000 in 1997.[1] The event showcased over 400 bands across its editions, including iconic performances by Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and Sepultura, with the final 2005 installment featuring Testament, Obituary, Trivium, and Anthrax before a hiatus.[1] After 2005, the festival was revived in 2008 as Dynamo Outdoor and later transitioned into the indoor Dynamo Metalfest starting in 2015, organized by Loud Noise and poppodium Dynamo at the IJssportcentrum in Eindhoven, maintaining the legacy of heavy metal gatherings in the region.[2]Introduction
Background and Founding
The Dynamo Open Air festival originated from the Dynamo rock club, which was established in 1981 by André Verhuysen and a friend within the Dynamo Youth Centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands.[1] Initially operating as a Hard Rock Café venue, the club quickly became a hub for live heavy metal performances, beginning with its first show featuring Raven in 1981 to an audience of around 300 fans.[1] This foundation laid the groundwork for expanding the club's activities beyond indoor events.[3] To mark the fifth anniversary of the Dynamo rock club in 1986, organizers launched the inaugural Dynamo Open Air as an outdoor extension of the club's programming.[1] Held on September 7, 1986, in the Dynamo parking lot, the event drew approximately 5,000 attendees and served as a modest platform for emerging thrash and heavy metal acts in Europe.[1] The setup was intentionally small-scale, utilizing the club's immediate surroundings without reliance on major sponsorship, reflecting the grassroots ethos of the venue.[1] Verhuysen's vision for the festival emphasized creating a dedicated space for heavy metal music, building on the club's reputation to foster a larger outdoor gathering that could showcase the genre's rising talents.[3] This initial edition established Dynamo Open Air as an annual tradition rooted in the local metal scene, prioritizing community-driven events over commercial backing.[1]Overall Significance
Dynamo Open Air established itself as one of Europe's premier metal festivals during its original run, renowned for drawing top international acts and fans from across the continent to Eindhoven, Netherlands.[4] By the late 1990s, it had become a landmark event in the global metal scene, often cited as the largest paid metal festival in Europe at its height.[1] Its reputation as a must-attend gathering for metal enthusiasts was solidified through consistent programming of high-profile performers, transforming a local club anniversary event into an international pilgrimage site for the genre.[5] The festival's peak attendance reached over 110,000 visitors in editions like 1995 and 1997, underscoring its massive scale and appeal as a central hub for metal culture.[4][1] This growth highlighted its role in elevating the visibility of heavy metal subgenres, particularly thrash, death, and black metal, by platforming both underground and mainstream bands such as Slayer for thrash, Gorefest for death metal, and Venom for black metal.[4] Through these showcases, Dynamo Open Air contributed significantly to the legitimization and expansion of these subgenres within the Netherlands and broader European context, fostering a dedicated community and influencing the trajectory of extreme metal scenes.[4] The festival boosted Eindhoven's profile as a hub for heavy metal, attracting tens of thousands of international attendees annually and contributing to the economic legitimization of the Dutch metal scene.[4]Original Era (1986–2005)
Early Development
Following the inaugural 1986 event held in the Dynamo rock club's parking lot in Eindhoven, which drew an estimated 5,000 attendees, the festival relocated to larger venues near the city to accommodate growing interest.[5] The 1987 edition took place at Smalle Haven in Eindhoven on June 8, providing a more spacious outdoor setting for acts including Stryper, Testament, and Destruction.[6] In 1988 and 1989, the event shifted to the Kunstijsbaan ice rink in Eindhoven, held on May 23 and May 15 respectively, enabling better organization for an expanding audience amid the rising popularity of heavy metal festivals in Europe.[7][8] These moves reflected the festival's foundational growth, transitioning from a local club celebration to a regional draw that attracted thousands of fans from across Europe by the late 1980s.[9] By 1990, on June 4, Dynamo Open Air returned to a fully outdoor format at the Gestelse Boys Stadium in Eindhoven, hosting bands such as Death Angel, Sepultura, and Sacred Reich, and solidifying its status as a key event in the European metal scene with continued improvements in logistics and international appeal.[10] Early editions faced logistical hurdles, including venue constraints, though the festival's momentum built steadily through enhanced planning and broader ticket distribution.[1]Peak and Challenges
During the mid-1990s, Dynamo Open Air achieved its zenith as one of Europe's premier metal festivals, marked by significant expansion and record-breaking crowds. To commemorate its 10th anniversary in 1995, the event transitioned to a three-day format held from June 2 to 4 at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven, drawing over 110,000 attendees across the weekend and solidifying its status as the largest multi-day open-air festival in Dutch history at the time.[11] This growth reflected the festival's maturation from its earlier single-day iterations, with organizers accommodating larger stages and infrastructure to handle the influx of international visitors. However, this rapid scaling introduced substantial operational challenges, most notably exemplified by the 1994 edition, which attracted approximately 70,000 visitors and triggered the longest and most severe traffic jam ever recorded in the Netherlands, stretching for miles around Eindhoven and prompting widespread media coverage and local frustration.[12] The congestion not only delayed arrivals but also heightened logistical pressures, leading authorities to impose a capacity limit of 60,000 people starting the following year to mitigate safety and infrastructural strains.[13] Amid these peaks, the festival grappled with escalating operational hurdles, including the need for enhanced sound systems to cover expansive sites and bolstered security protocols to manage crowds effectively, though rising production costs began to strain resources as attendance surged. Environmental concerns also emerged, with the event's footprint on local airfields raising issues about noise pollution and land use, contributing to ongoing negotiations with municipal officials. A notable incident occurred in 1997, when adverse weather conditions, including heavy rain, disrupted proceedings and caused delays to stage schedules, testing the organizers' resilience.Final Years and Cancellation
The 2001 edition of Dynamo Open Air was cancelled amid concerns over the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak affecting livestock in the Netherlands, marking the first time the event was unable to proceed.[14] Organizers cited the risk of spreading the disease through large gatherings as the primary reason, leading to refunds for the approximately 15,000 tickets sold up to that point.[15] The festival resumed in 2002 at a new venue, Sportpark Boshoven in Weert, which had previously hosted the Bospop festival, drawing only about 6,500 attendees despite the relocation.[16][17] However, no edition took place in 2003, as organizers grappled with site availability and logistical challenges following the disruptions of the prior years, including violation of a recently passed law restricting large temporary open-air events. The 2004 event returned to the familiar Goffertpark in Nijmegen, but attendance had begun to wane from the peaks of over 110,000 visitors in the mid-1990s, reflecting broader financial strains and shifting audience interests in the metal scene.[13] By 2005, Dynamo Open Air held its final outdoor edition at the Sallandse Heuvelrug site in Hellendoorn, drawing only about 5,000 attendees to a venue with a 10,000-person capacity, a sharp decline attributed to intensified competition from emerging European metal festivals and organizational fatigue after nearly two decades of production.[18] Regulatory pressures, including difficulties securing permits for temporary campsites and event infrastructure, compounded these issues, as evidenced by the outright cancellation of a planned 2006 edition due to local authority restrictions.[19] This confluence of factors led to the permanent suspension of the original open-air format after 2005, ending an era defined by its scale but increasingly burdened by external constraints.Revival and Modern Era
Relaunch as Metalfest
Prior to Metalfest, the Dynamo brand was revived in 2008 as the outdoor Dynamo Outdoor festival, held annually in Eindhoven until around 2014, featuring a mix of metal and other genres before transitioning to the indoor format. In 2014, the inaugural edition of Dynamo Metalfest was announced as a revival of the legendary Dynamo festival, organized by members of the original Dynamo team to honor its enduring legacy in the metal scene.[20][21] The event shifted from the outdoor format of its predecessor to an indoor setup at Eindhoven's IJssportcentrum, primarily to ensure weather reliability and sidestep the regulatory challenges associated with large-scale outdoor gatherings.[21] The first edition took place on July 18, 2015, drawing a capacity crowd of approximately 5,000 attendees who embraced the intimate atmosphere of the semi-covered venue.[22][23] This limited scale allowed for a focused metal experience, capitalizing on nostalgia for the Dynamo brand while avoiding the logistical hurdles that had plagued the original outdoor event a decade earlier.[21] Tickets sold out rapidly, underscoring the strong demand to resurrect the festival in a more manageable format.[24]Evolution Since 2015
Following its inaugural indoor edition in 2015, Dynamo Metalfest established an annual tradition at the IJssportcentrum in Eindhoven, Netherlands, hosting events each summer from 2016 onward. The 2016 and 2017 editions remained single-day affairs on July 16 and July 15, respectively, drawing crowds with a mix of thrash, death, and power metal acts while maintaining the festival's intimate indoor atmosphere. By 2018, on July 14, the event continued this format, emphasizing practical improvements like enhanced sound and logistics to build attendee loyalty.[25][26][27] The festival expanded to a two-day format starting in 2019, held July 19–20, allowing for a broader lineup and increased capacity of around 10,000 attendees per edition. This multi-day structure persisted through 2022 and 2023 (August 20–21 and August 19–20, respectively), fostering growth in programming that included metal markets and signing sessions alongside performances. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted operations: the 2020 edition was canceled and replaced with a live online stream featuring select Dutch acts, while the 2021 edition was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and postponed to 2022. An aftermovie for the 2023 event was released in September, capturing the festival's return to full vibrancy and highlighting its resilient community spirit.[28][29][30][31] In 2024, Dynamo Metalfest evolved further by adopting a three-day format from August 16–18, accommodating a diverse array of metal subgenres including symphonic black, thrash, and alternative metal to appeal to a wider audience. This expansion underscored the festival's maturation into a cornerstone of the European metal scene, with enhanced stage setups and thematic programming. The 2025 edition marked the 10th anniversary, held August 15–17, featuring headliners Gojira, Opeth, and Within Temptation, along with special guest returns from past lineups, expanded multi-stage programming, and celebratory elements to honor its decade-long indoor revival.[32][33][2]Lineups and Schedules
Original Festival Lineups
The original Dynamo Open Air festival ran from 1986 to 2005, with lineups evolving from thrash and heavy metal acts in the early years to a broader mix of extreme metal, hardcore, and alternative genres by the 1990s and 2000s. Below is a year-by-year summary of the editions, including dates, venues, headliners where specified, and performing acts, based on historical records. Some editions were cancelled or relocated due to logistical issues. 1986Held on September 7 at Smalle Haven in Eindhoven, the inaugural edition featured headliners Joshua, Lääz Rockit, and Avalon, alongside a full lineup of over 10 acts emphasizing NWOBHM and thrash metal: Angel Witch, Battlezone, Chariot, Joshua, Onslaught, Satan, Helloween, and Lääz Rockit, with additional performers including Paul Di'Anno and Avalon.[5][34][35][36] 1987
The festival occurred on June 8 at Smalle Haven in Eindhoven, showcasing thrash and speed metal acts such as Atomkraft, Destruction, Mad Max, Stryper, Testament, and Vengeance.[5][37] 1988
Taking place on May 23 at Kunstijsbaan in Eindhoven, the lineup included Candlemass, Exodus, Lääz Rockit, Paradox, Sabbat, and Toxik, highlighting a growing emphasis on thrash and doom metal.[5][7] 1989
On May 15 at Kunstijsbaan in Eindhoven, acts featured Armored Saint, Forbidden, Holy Moses, Sacred Reich, Savatage, Sleeze Beez, and local band Fatal Destiny.[5][8] 1990
The June 4 edition at Velden Gestelse Boys in Eindhoven highlighted key bands like Sacred Reich and Sepultura, with the full lineup comprising Death Angel, Mordred, Sacred Reich, Sepultura, Trouble, and Vicious Rumors; Voivod was announced but did not perform due to a no-show.[5][38] 1991
Held on May 20 at Kunstijsbaan in Eindhoven, the diverse bill included Armored Saint, Extreme, Ignorance, Metal Church, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Primus, Psychotic Waltz, and Saigon Kick.[5][39] 1992
On June 7 at Kunstijsbaan in Eindhoven, performers were Love On Ice, Mordred, My Sister's Machine, Paradise Lost, Pestilence, Prong, Rollins Band, Skyclad, and The Obsessed.[5][40] 1993
This two-day event on May 29–30 at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven featured headliners Anthrax and Mercyful Fate, with a large lineup including Annihilator, Biohazard, Fear Factory, Freak of Nature, Fudge Tunnel, Gorefest, Kong, Mercyful Fate, Mindfunk, Monster Magnet, Nocturnal Rites, Nudeswirl, Suicidal Tendencies, Temple of the Absurd, Trouble, Wool, and Z.[5][41] 1994
From May 21–22 at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven, the festival showcased Danzig and Prong as major acts, alongside B-Thong, Clawfinger, Cynic, Danzig, Die Krupps, Forbidden, Gorefest, Jackyl, Kyuss, Last Crack, Life of Agony, Nerve, Pride & Glory, Prong, Sick of It All, Skintrade, Skrew, Skyclad, Sleeze Beez, The Organization, The Obsessed, Urban Dance Squad, and Vicious Rumors.[5][42] 1995
The 10th anniversary edition ran June 2–4 at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven, with headliners Paradise Lost, Life of Agony, and Type O Negative, and a broad selection of acts including 35007, Absconded, Biohazard, Blitz Babies, Brotherhood Foundation, Crash Worship, Dog Eat Dog, Downset, Dub War, Earth Crisis, Eleven Pictures, Fear Factory, Grip Inc., Hate Squad, Horace Pinker, Life of Agony, Machine Head, Madball, Mary Beats Jane, Mental Hippie Blood, Motorpsycho, My Dying Bride, Nailbomb, Nevermore, No Fun at All, NRA, Orange 9mm, Overdose, Paradise Lost, Rape, Rich Kids on LSD, Schweisser, Shihad, Skyclad, Snapcase, Strawman, Sun, Tiamat, Trouble, Type O Negative, Undeclinable Ambuscade, Warrior Soul, Waving Corn.[5][43][44] 1996
May 24–26 at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven marked a peak with headliners Slayer and Venom, featuring 59 Times the Pain, 7 Zuma 7, Altar, Anathema, Bambix, Channel Zero, CIV, Cooper, Dearly Beheaded, Dog Eat Dog, Down By Law, Drain, Dreamgrinder, Eboman, Frozen Sun, Galactic Cowboys, Gorefest, Gurd, H2O, Merauder, Millencolin, Neurosis, NRA, Orphanage, Osdorp Posse & Nembrionic, Pennywise, Pitchshifter, Pro-Pain, Ryker's, Sacred Reich, Satanic Surfers, Savatage, Shelter, Skippies, Skrew, Slapshot, Slayer, Spiritual Beggars, Strung Out, Stuck Mojo, The Exploited, The Gathering, Torque, Unsane, Venom, Voivod, and White Devil.[5][45] 1997
The May 16–18 event at Vliegbasis Welschap in Eindhoven included Korn and Machine Head as key draws, with acts such as $400 Suits, Amorphis, Backfire!, Coal Chamber, Cradle of Filth, Deviate, Dimmu Borgir, Discipline, Entombed, Exodus, Goddess of Desire, Helmet, I Against I, Karma to Burn, Keaton, Korn, Laberinto, Machine Head, Marilyn Manson, Moonspell, Ni Hao, Occult, Orphanage, Pist.On, Rage, Samael, Satyricon, Secret Discovery, Sentenced, Sick of It All, Skinlab, Slo Burn, Slyce, SNFU, Sundown, Testament, Therion, Thumb, Tiamat, Totenmond, Type O Negative, Vision of Disorder, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Within Temptation.[5][46] 1998
From May 29–31 at Kunstijsbaan in Eindhoven, headliners Pantera and Rammstein dominated, with a massive bill of over 60 acts including 25 Ta Life, 7 Zuma 7, Agnostic Front, Atrocity, Battery, Better Than a Thousand, Bewitched, Blind Guardian, Bloodlet, Brotherhood Foundation & Hardcore All Stars, Cathedral, Coal Chamber, Cold, Congress, Covenant, Death, Deftones, Dimmu Borgir, Driven, Emperor, Enslaved, Far, Fates Warning, Form, Fu Manchu, Fury of Five, Good Riddance, H2O, HammerFall, Hard Resistance, Hatebreed, Hed PE, Helloween, Iced Earth, Ignite, Immortal, In Flames, Incubus, Insane Clown Posse, Jane's Addiction, Junkie XL, Kreator, Life of Agony, Limp Bizkit (cancelled), Masters of Reality, Maximum Penalty, Misery Loves Co., The Misfits, Oomph!, Orange Goblin, Pantera, Primal Fear, Pro-Pain, Rammstein, Refused, Right Direction, Saxon, Sevendust, sHeavy, Soulfly, Spiritual Beggars, Strapping Young Lad, Stratovarius, Stuck Mojo, Tech-9, Theatre of Tragedy, The Black Symphony, The Hellacopters, Think About Mutation, Tom Angelripper, Transport League, Tura Satana, Ultraspank, Undeclinable Ambuscade, Within Temptation, and Zebrahead.[5][47] 1999
May 21–23 at Landgoed Gulbergen in Nuenen featured Metallica as headliner for the multi-day event, with more than 60 acts such as 59 Times the Pain, All Out War, Anathema, Ancient Rites, Angra, Apocalyptica, Arch Enemy, Atari Teenage Riot, Biohazard, Black Label Society, Cage, Cold As Life, Cradle of Filth, Cryptopsy, Cubanate, Darkane, De Heideroosjes, Dimmu Borgir, E.Town Concrete, Fatso Jetson, Fear Factory, Gamma Ray, Gluecifer, Goatsnake, God Dethroned, Grip Inc., Hard-Ons, Hypocrisy, In Extremo, Iron Monkey, Labyrinth, Lacuna Coil, Loudness, Madball, Manowar, Marduk, Merauder, Mercyful Fate, Meshuggah, Metallica, Monster Magnet, Murphy's Law, Nashville Pussy, Nebula, Nevermore, Nile, Nocturnal Rites, Oceans of Sadness, One Minute Silence, Out, Overkill, Peter Pan, Pitchshifter, Pulkas, Run Devil Run, Rykers, Skinlab, Stormtroopers of Death, Sodom, Space Age Playboys, Spineshank, Static-X, System of a Down, The Gathering, The Haunted, Therion with orchestra, Trail of Tears, Troopers, Unida, Unjust, Violation of Trust, and Zeke.[5][48] 2000
On June 3 at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, the one-day event highlighted the Iron Maiden reunion lineup, alongside Slipknot, Korn, and Immortal, with additional acts including Destruction, Engine, Kittie, Mayhem, Methods of Mayhem, P.O.D., Sentenced, Spiritual Beggars, Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, The Kovenant, and Zeke.[5][49] 2001
The planned edition was cancelled due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the Netherlands.[5] 2002
Held on July 14 at Sportpark Boshoven in Weert, the lineup included Biohazard, Children of Bodom, and Soulfly, with Autumn, Dead Soul Tribe, Death Angel, Dropkick Murphys, Finntroll, Hermano, Opeth, Pain of Salvation, Peter Pan, Strapping Young Lad, Within Temptation, and Zimmers Hole.[5][50] 2003
No festival was held this year due to organizational challenges.[5] 2004
On June 5 at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, headliners Slayer and Nightwish performed, joined by After Forever, Agent Steel, Children of Bodom, Deicide, Dimmu Borgir, Ill Niño, Life of Agony, Mastodon, Oomph!, Shadows Fall, and Soulfly.[5][51] 2005
The final edition on May 7 at Sallandse Heuvelrug in Hellendoorn featured the classic lineup of Anthrax (with Joey Belladonna and John Bush sharing vocals), Testament, and Obituary as headliners, alongside 3 Inches of Blood, Evergrey, Gorefest, Jon Oliva's Pain, Lääz Rockit, Masterplan, Mercenary, Still Remains, and Trivium.[5][52][53]
Metalfest Lineups
Dynamo Metalfest, the indoor revival of the original Dynamo Open Air festival, has featured diverse metal lineups since its debut in 2015 at the IJssportcentrum in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The event typically highlights a mix of established headliners and emerging acts across subgenres like thrash, death, black, and progressive metal, with occasional expansions to multi-day formats post-2019. Below is a year-by-year overview of headliners and selected key acts, reflecting the festival's evolution amid global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.| Year | Dates | Headliners | Key Acts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | July 18 | Arch Enemy | Alestorm, Death Angel, Nuclear Assault, Orange Goblin, Biohazard, Bodyfarm, Facelifter | Debut edition, single-day indoor event focusing on thrash and melodic death metal.[54] |
| 2016 | July 16 | Anthrax, At The Gates | Obituary, Powerwolf, Sacred Reich, Metal Church, Life of Agony, Audrey Horne, Textures, Extremities | Emphasis on thrash and death metal revival acts.[55] |
| 2017 | July 15 | Gojira, Testament | Devin Townsend Project, Exodus, Entombed A.D., Prong, Toxik, Vuur, White Boy Wasted | Blended progressive, thrash, and death metal influences.[56] |
| 2018 | July 14 | Ghost | Ministry, Sons of Apollo, Overkill, Annihilator, Leprous, Vuur, Iron Reagan, Havok, I Am Morbid | Incorporated industrial, progressive, and crossover thrash elements.[57] |
| 2019 | July 19–20 | Arch Enemy, Steel Panther | Carcass, Soulfly, Airbourne, Metal Church, Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, Armored Saint, Tribulation, Alien Weaponry, Grand Magus, Jungle Rot, Baest | First multi-day edition, spanning melodic death, hardcore, and traditional heavy metal.[58] |
| 2020 | July 17–18 (planned) | Kreator, Cradle of Filth | Heaven Shall Burn, Jinjer, Candlemass, Exodus, Firewind, Beast in Black, Flotsam and Jetsam | Canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions; some acts rescheduled to future editions.[59] |
| 2021 | August (planned) | Various (carryover from 2020) | N/A | Fully canceled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[31] |
| 2022 | August 20–21 | Lamb of God, Kreator | Heaven Shall Burn, Jinjer, Cannibal Corpse, Bay Area Interthrashional, Angelus Apatrida, Lik | Return to full-capacity multi-day event post-pandemic.[60] |
| 2023 | August 19–20 | Megadeth, In Flames, Sepultura | Obituary, Rudeboy, Bleed From Within, Gatecreeper, Warbringer, Brand of Sacrifice, Boneless Ones | Thrash and death metal heavy focus, with crossover and hardcore additions.[61] |
| 2024 | August 16–18 | Dimmu Borgir, Saxon | Amaranthe, Skindred, Forbidden, Flotsam and Jetsam, Whitechapel, Soen, Ministry, Mastodon, Fear Factory, Paradise Lost, Kublai Khan TX | Expanded three-day format; Ministry and other acts announced in late 2023 and November 2024.[62][63] |
| 2025 | August 15–17 | Gojira, I Prevail, Kerry King, Within Temptation | Fleshgod Apocalypse, Ne Obliviscaris, Kataklysm, Kublai Khan TX, Nailbomb, Paradise Lost, Hanabie, Charlotte Wessels, Rivers of Nihil, Hellripper, Coffin Feeder, Opeth, Mastodon, Static-X, Slaughter To Prevail, Thy Art Is Murder, Fit For An Autopsy | Three-day event with symphonic, death, and thrash elements; full lineup confirmed as of August 2025, with all acts performing as planned.[64][65][66] |