Bloodstock 2025: Your ultimate guide to this year’s festival, including banned items, weather & alcohol limits

• It’s only a few short sleeps until Derbyshire comes alive with the sound of metal once again.
• Bloodstock Open Air is set to take place at Catton Hall, with metal fans across Europe set to congregate at the estate once again.
• Here’s our guide to this year’s festival - from how to get there to banned items and early weather forecasts for the weekend ahead.

The grounds of Catton Hall are calling out to metal fans across Europe this weekend, as the annual Bloodstock Open Air takes place from August 8 to August 11.

Headlined this year by Machine Head, Trivium, and Gojira, the “other metal festival” that takes place in Derbyshire also has several ‘00s acts that, perhaps, metal fans who have had their formative education of the genre through TikTok might gravitate towards – but that might be the old, dusty metalhead in me gutted I am missing Fear Factory, Static-X, and Nailbomb. Maybe next year, right?

With your itinerary of performances having been locked down for another year, it’s time to move on to some admin ahead of the festival; namely, how are you going to get there, what time should you arrive at Catton Hall and, above all else, how much alcohol can you bring with you to the festival this year?

Oh, and travel, of course – because how else are you going to enjoy Bloodstock if you’re lost on the Derbyshire roads?

Here’s everything else you need to know ahead of this weekend’s Bloodstock Open Air.

When do the gates open for Bloodstock Open Air 2025?

Those of you who are looking to arrive early to Bloodstock this year, the main entrance and accessible box office will be open at 12pm BST on August 7, with the public car park ticket office open from 12pm BST to 11pm BST the same day. The campsite will also open on this day at noon BST.

Those arriving on Friday (August 8) will be able to enter the main entrance or arrive at the accessible box office from 10am BST until 10pm BST, with the public car park ticket office opening earlier from 8am BST until 10pm BST.

Saturday (August 9) will see the main entrance and accessible box office open from 10am BST until 8pm BST, and the public car park ticket office from 8am BST to 8pm BST, while Sunday (August 10) the main entrance and accessible box office will be open from 10am BST until 6pm BST, with the public car park ticket office opening at 8am BST and closing at 6pm BST.

How do I get to Bloodstock Open Air 2025?

By train

The nearest train stations are Tamworth and Lichfield City. For convenience, it is recommended to travel to Tamworth Train Station, as a regular shuttle bus service operates from there to the festival site. The festival shuttle buses only run on Thursday, August 7 and August 11.

If you choose to travel to Lichfield City Station, you will need to take a taxi to the festival site, as it is under 9 miles away. You can check train times and book tickets via the National Rail website.

By car

The festival site is at Catton Park, DE12 8LN. However, once you are near the festival, you must turn off your sat nav and follow the AA routing signs. This is especially important for cars and motorbikes due to the narrow bridge and roadworks.

• Ingress from the North: Take the M1 Southbound, exit at Junction 28 onto the A38, then exit at the Alrewas/Rugeley/Tamworth A513 turnoff and follow festival signs.
• Ingress from the West or South (a): Take the M42 Northbound, the M6 toll road, then the A38 Northbound, exit at the Alrewas/Rugeley/Tamworth A513 turnoff, and follow festival signs.
• Ingress from the South (b): Take the M1 from London, exit at Junction 24 onto the A50, then onto the A38 to Burton, exit at the Alrewas/Rugeley/Tamworth A513 turnoff, and follow festival signs.

For campervans/caravans, a new width restriction on the Chetwynd Bridge means you must not follow the same route as cars. Instead, you must exit onto the A5121 and follow the festival signage.

By coach

Big Green Coach is the festival's official travel partner, offering hassle-free return journeys from 34 pick-up locations. These coaches will arrive at the festival on Thursday and depart on Monday.

Pick-up locations include: Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Crewe, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newport, Nottingham, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Taunton, Worcester, and York.

Can I leave the festival site and return at any point?

Yes, you can, so long as you have your wristband, you can leave the festival site and return in the event you need to pick up some essential supplies. Discussions from past attendees on forums indicate that re-entry is generally straightforward for those with a valid wristband; you simply show your wristband to security to get back in.

However, if you are leaving to bring more items in, like food or alcohol, you might be directed to join the main queue for bag checks.

What items are banned from bringing to Bloodstock Open Air 2025?

Ah, yes - avoid blushes at the gates of Catton Hall by ditching these items altogether before arriving to Bloodstock this year:

• Professional cameras, audio, audiovisual or cinematic devices
• Vehicles in the campsites
• Fires or flame torches
• Gas appliances or gas canisters
• Glass
• Food brought into the arena
• Dogs
• Fireworks
• Smoke canisters
• Knives
• Imitation weapons
• Flags on poles (in the Arena)
• Hexamine blocks (as solid fuel for camping stoves)
• Illegal drugs or substances

I heard I can bring alcohol with me, but how much can I bring?

The terms and conditions according to your Bloodstock ticket state that there is no numerical limit on the alcohol that can be brought into the camping site, but that a “reasonable amount of alcohol” can be brought for personal consumption.

So, no setting up a pop-up bar at the campsite, and certainly don’t try to bring in any alcohol into the main festival arena.

What is the current weather forecast for this weekend at Bloodstock Open Air?

Though we promise to have more up-to-date weather forecasts across the duration of this weekend (stay tuned for more), currently the Met Office have issued the following forecast for the area.

• Thursday: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by lunchtime (high - 21°/low - 13°)
• Friday: Sunny intervals (high - 23°/low - 12°)
• Saturday: Sunny (high - 24°/low - 13°)
• Sunday: Sunny intervals changing to partly cloudy by night time (high - 26°/low -14°)

What about the pollen count at Bloodstock 2025?

It doesn’t look too bad across the Bloodstock 2025 weekend, with the Met Office issuing a ‘low’ pollen count alert for Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with hay fever sufferers probably best to dose up for Saturday, where the pollen count is set to be ‘moderate’

Are there any tickets left to attend Bloodstock Open Air 2025?

For those that have been sold on the idea of a last-minute sojourn to Catton Hall for Bloodstock this weekend, your best port of call for tickets will once again be the festival’s official website - but be quick, as time is at a premium right now!

Are you heading to one of the other remaining UK music festivals this month? Check out our guides to Leeds Festival, Reading Festival, Boomtown: Chapter 4 and Creamfields 2025.