11.07.2024 – 14.07.2024 Masters of Rock (20th Anniversary)

What better year to pick for a trip to Czechia’s prime metal festival than the year in which the festival celebrates its 20th anniversary? To be fair, the festival took place for the first time already in 2003, but due to Covid-19 regulations, could not happen in 2020 and 2021. But thus here we are, in 2024, ready for the 20th incarnation of Masters of Rock, and it has a lot to offer.

Not only does this year’s edition feature the return of arguably the biggest headlining act the festival has ever had in Judas Priest, who will certainly follow up on their tremendous 2022 performance in grandiose fashion, but the promoter has been pulling out all the stops to also fill the remaining headline spots with a selection of top-tier acts from the European metal scene, as the remaining festival days will be headlined by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, promoting his current solo album “The Mandrake Project”, Tobias Sammet’s rock opera Avantasia, and Germany’s classic heavy metallers of Accept.

The remainder of the billing also provides for some welcome returns and pleasant surprises: acts like comedy metallers Alestorm, power metallers Stratovarius and the Metal Queen herself, Doro Pesch return to Vizovice alongside heavier acts such as Sodom, Soilwork, Moonspell and the Cavalera brothers’ “Morbid Devastation”; and some bands less frequently seen in Czechia complete the billing in shape of bands like Electric Callboy, The Rasmus, Unleash The Archers, and, somewhat surprisingly, also former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing’s own band “KK’s Priest”, featuring former Judas Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens on vocals – so if you’re into some Judas Priest music, this will be the festival for you.