The Bloodstock Open Air festival is England's biggest and best full-on metal festival, and this year marks its fourth open air event once again at Catton Hall at the south of Derbyshire. The festival has grown over the years from being a relatively small two-day metal gathering starting 2005, to the three-day metal party it has been since 2007. The festival has always hosted a varied line-up of both popular and underground metal and this year boasts its best line-up the festival has ever seen with hugely popular bands Nightwish, Opeth and Dimmu Borgir to name a few, as well as power metal gods Helloween and thrash legends Destruction. Bands of all styles are present from the old-school traditional Praying Mantis and melodic Bloodstock familiars Primal Fear to the modern, devastating power of extreme metal bands Akercocke and Kataklysm, not to mention English grind kinds Napalm Death and be sure to check out At The Gates for the last time ever as they will grace the stage on their last ever goodbye tour. Bloodstock is also running the "Metal 2 The Masses" to allow unsigned up-and-coming English metal talent the chance to be voted in to play on the unsigned stage at the festival. Bloodstock 2008 is shaping up to be the best edition yet with such a line-up bursting with amazing quality with styles ranging across the metal scope and the English audience never being so hungry for some real heavy metal on their doorsteps.

Catton Hall will once again be the home to this great event. It is located in the middle of the Derby, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham square - with the nearest towns being Lichfield, Burton upon Trent and Tamworth. The location of Catton Hall can be viewed at this location and can be zoomed in as required. Catton Hall is just 20 miles from either the Birmingham or Nottingham East Midlands Airport, 60 miles from Manchester airport and 130 miles from Heathrow airport for foreign visitors. A shuttle bus service will also run from Lichfield and Burton upon Trent, information on the shuttle bus service as well as opening times, age restrictions, camping and any other information you may need can be found at this location.

Last year's Bloodstock Open Air page can be viewed at this location, with full gallery of way over 100 images of the festival at this location. A full three-day report of the festival can also be found at these locations: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Tickets can be purchased over the internet at £85 for the full three days and camping at this location. VIP camping and backstage tickets are also on sale for the first time in Bloodstock history and can be purchased at this location. For extra convenience, tickets can also for the first time be purchased at a number of HMV outlets throughout the country, a list of participating stores can be found here. For anything else you may need, visit the festival's official website here or if I, myself can help in any way - feel free to send me a PM by following this link.

We will see you there for what promises to be THE metal event in England for 2008. Full and current line-up can be seen below and will be kept up-to-date.