The largest rock music and camping event in the Midwest announced its lineup on Friday, and—spoiler alert: it includes the newly reunited masters of “Power Groove” Pantera, modern-metal legends Slipknot, and four-times platinum rockers Godsmack.
Rock Fest—the annual music fest slated for July 13–15 just outside Cadott, Wisconsin (about an hour and 45 minutes east of Minneapolis)—includes over 75 bands on five stages performing over three days (plus a Bonus Bash day on July 12 for three-day ticket holders). It’s set to feature notable rockers including Ice Cube, Falling In Reverse, Papa Roach, Ice Nine Kills, and Highly Suspect.
“We really focus on making each year better than the last,” says Wade Asher, general manager of Rock Fest, in a media release. “Fans can look forward to 20 national acts performing at Rock Fest for the first time. And that is pretty tough to do when we’ve been doing this for 29 years. As always, we’re keeping busy in the off-season working to improve the fan experience in many ways, including both new and improved infrastructure for 2023. We can’t wait to do it all over again.”
Last year’s event was the largest for Chippewa Valley Music Festivals, which operates both Rock Fest and Country Fest—Cadott’s other major music festival, which takes place June 22–24 this year. In 2022, all of Rock Fest’s 7,000 campsites were reserved in advance of the festival, which featured headliners Disturbed, Evanescence, and Shinedown. (No biggie.)
To meet the needs of their growing fanbase, Rock Fest staff have added over 500 campsites and 1,500 parking spots to accommodate tens of thousands of fans this summer.
This year’s Rock Fest marks Pantera’s first performance in the U.S. after a 21-year-hiatus. Though the brand broke up in the early 2000s, they recently reunited to honor the lives of original members Darrell (“Dimebag Darrell”) Abbott and Vinny Paul Abbott—brothers who co-founded the group in 1981.
Other notable first-timers to the event include Highly Suspect, Ice Cube, Jinjer, Falling In Reverse, Plush, and Wage War. Don’t miss Minneapolis-based Soul Asylum, Old Voltage, Rebel Queens, Sin7, Nuisance, and Weekend Picnic. Mvrrow from Brainerd and 9th Planet from Rochester are also slated to perform on July 13 and 14 respectively.
For more information about Rock Fest, or to snag tickets, visit rock-fest.com.