Louder Than Life will be back for its 12th year from September 17 to 20 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. This year, the event will have its biggest lineup ever, and it will be the biggest bill ever put together by producer Danny Wimmer Presents.
With almost 200 bands playing on seven stages over four days, this event is still the biggest rock and metal festival in the United States.
Headliners by Day
Thursday, Sept. 17
Iron Maiden, Pantera, Megadeth
Friday, Sept. 18
My Chemical Romance, Pierce The Veil, A Day to Remember
Saturday, Sept. 19
Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Sublime
Sunday, Sept. 20
TOOL, Gojira, Danny Elfman
One of the biggest all-female-fronted stage lineups at a major U.S. rock festival will also be on Saturday. It will include Halestorm, In This Moment, Lindsey Stirling, Orianthi, Icon For Hire, Kami Kehoe, and Diamante.
The festival organizers say that a mystery guest band will play live for the first time, and they will also announce another big heavy act later.
Special Performances and Milestones
Among the notable moments planned for 2026:
- Pantera’s only U.S. performance of the year
- One of Megadeth’s final farewell sets
- Danny Elfman’s first East Coast performance in nearly a decade
- Reunion appearances from Circa Survive, Get Scared, Blood For Blood, Metal Church, Primer 55, Sent By Ravens and 40 Below Summer
- Anniversary celebrations including:
- Jimmy Eat World marking 25 years of Bleed American
- Sleeping With Sirens celebrating 15 years of Let’s Cheers To This
- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus honoring 20 years of Don’t You Fake It
- Alien Ant Farm commemorating 25 years of ANThology
- Red celebrating 20 years of End of Silence
Cavalera will play all of Sepultura’s Roots, and Skillet will have a special fireworks show. Chad Gray will give a solo performance called “30 Years of Madness” that will focus on his work with Mudvayne and Hellyeah.
Beyond the Music
The amusement rides at Kentucky Kingdom, which is still a part of the festival footprint, will be free for all festival pass holders. Additionally, starting March 1, the Louder Than Life Battle for the Big Stage competition will be launched by the organizers. Fan voting will be connected to the Space Zebra Show on the DWP Twitch channel.
An official lineup announcement party is scheduled for Feb. 23 at The Fox Den in Louisville, featuring live performances, giveaways and fee-free pass options for attendees.
Ticket Options
Passes are on sale now at LouderThanLifeFestival.com, with options including:
- 4-Day GA
- 4-Day VIP
- 4-Day Angel’s Envy Top Shelf VIP
- Single Day GA
- Single Day VIP
- Single Day Angel’s Envy Top Shelf VIP
During consecutive weekends in Louisville, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life are both accessible with Limited Exacta Passes. If you have a working.edu email address, you can get a discounted student pass for one-day GA admission.
Additionally, DWP and GOVX have partnered to offer discounted passes to law enforcement, firefighters, nurses, and military personnel.
Louder Than Life and its sister festival Bourbon & Beyond generated more than $43 million in combined local economic impact in 2025, drawing more than 450,000 attendees and booking over 60,000 hotel room nights.
Organizers encourage fans to purchase passes early as the festival continues to draw attendees from all 50 states and multiple countries.
For more information and tickets, visit LouderThanLifeFestival.com.
Every performer at Louder Than Life 2026:
The full lineup for Louder Than Life is as follows (subject to change): My Chemical Romance, Iron Maiden, TOOL, Limp Bizkit, Pantera, Pierce The Veil, Gojira, Danny Elfman, The Prodigy, Sublime, Papa Roach, A Day To Remember, BABYMETAL, Megadeth, Danzig, Halestorm, Rise Against, Alice Cooper, Circa Survive, Ice Nine Kills, Jimmy Eat World, The Mars Volta, Mastodon, The Used, Bilmuri, Sabaton, Coheed and Cambria, The Pretty Reckless, Hot Mulligan, Taking Back Sunday, Sleeping With Sirens, In This Moment, Dance Gavin Dance, Chiodos, Black Label Society, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, Ministry, CAVALERA, Skillet, The Warning, Nothing More, Tom Morello, Lindsey Stirling, Dethklok, Black Veil Brides, Kublai Khan TX, Underoath, Alkaline Trio, Machine Head, Suicidal Tendencies, Chad Gray, Starset, Badflower, Alexisonfire, Animals As Leaders, Thrice, LOATHE, Coal Chamber, P.O.D., The Home Team, Bowling For Soup, Thursday, We The Kings, From Ashes To New, Fit For A King, Sleep Theory, President, GWAR, Palaye Royale, L.S. Dunes, Atreyu, Lit, Get Scared, Set It Off, Blood For Blood, Sunami, Filter, Alissa White-Gluz, Soulfly, Between The Buried And Me, ERRA, Chelsea Grin, After The Burial, Lacey Sturm: The Voice of FLYLEAF, Toadies, Currents, Orianthi, Boundaries, Make Them Suffer, Metal Church, The Acacia Strain, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Holding Absence, HAYWIRE, Spite, Agnostic Front, Escape The Fate, Jutes, Emmure, ivri, Alien Ant Farm, Bodysnatcher, Scene Queen, Caskets, Rain City Drive, The Funeral Portrait, PeelingFlesh, Haste The Day, Holywatr, Locked Shut, Hail The Sun, Madball, I See Stars, Mushroomhead, Angel Du$t, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Word Alive, Jeff Hardy, Mac Sabbath, The Ataris, The Rasmus, Volumes, Wind Walkers, Twitching Tongues, Powerman 5000, The Barbarians of California, Emery, Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, Born of Osiris, H2O, Red, Josey Scott: The Original Voice of SALIVA, Adelitas Way, Thousand Below, Soil, Arrows in Action, Chained Saint, Zero 9:36, Elijah, Holy Wars, Butcher Babies, Nevertel, Dry Kill Logic, Icon For Hire, Kami Kehoe, Codefendants, Texas Hippie Coalition, Austin Carlile: The Original Voice of Of Mice & Men, The Pretty Wild, End It, Vana, Rivers of Nihil, Like Moths To Flames, Signs of the Swarm, Archers, KOYO, Primer 55, Emarosa, Gemini Syndrome, Shaman’s Harvest, 200 Stab Wounds, 156/Silence, Missing Link, Fox Lake, sace6, Greyhaven, King 810, Many Eyes, Tantric, The Violent Hour, Dark Divine, Sent By Ravens, Showing Teeth, Earshot, TX2, Diamante, OTHERWISE, Doobie, He Is Legend, Aviana, vianova, Future Palace, Cane Hill, Corpse Pile, 40 Below Summer, Heavy//Hitter, Bodybox, Boltcutter, Resolve, Dreamwake, Gates To Hell, Death Valley Dreams, Set For Tomorrow, and Billy McNicol.
This article appears in Feb 14-28, 2026.