’Arry’s ’Ammers have expanded July’s Knebworth mega-show into a two-day party with bars, more music, and a museum celebrating all things Iron Maiden.
On July 11, Iron Maiden will be hitting Knebworth for the first time in 12 years. Upon announcing the news last September, they also revealed that they'd be joined by The Darkness, Airbourne, The HU and The Almighty.
They also promised that they'd be “turning it into as much of a ‘Maiden World’ as we can for all our fans to enjoy!” Now they've announced plans to make a two-day beast of it. Starting at 2pm on July 10, EDDFEST will offer a unique opportunity to celebrate all things Maiden as they continue to mark 50 years of metal.
There will be Maidenville, a special area featuring a massive Infinite Dreams museum packed with Maiden history, plus what the band promise will be "the greatest Eddie's Dive Bar yet", an Unfair Funfair, and a second stage of Maiden-related bands.
“After the monumental shows in the UK last year [including a massive gig at West Ham's London Stadium], we knew that if we were going to play the UK in 2026 it had to be very different,” says Maiden manager Rod Smallwood. “So we chose Knebworth Park as it gives us the space required – which is just not available in stadiums – to put together something groundbreaking for our fans by creating a Maiden World for them. We are excited to now reveal the details of this one-off event to celebrate the band’s 50-year career, which we are now calling EDDFEST, because, as everyone knows, Eddie is the true star of the show!
“We also know Maiden fans are basically a huge gang and we want to give them a weekend to remember at Knebworth. For the last couple of tours we have been arranging the Eddie Dive Bars for our fans, both pre- and post-show. Some of these took over the entire centres of towns with thousands of fans gathered there enjoying the fun, the music and each other’s company. So EDDFEST is going to expand on that concept in a huge variety of ways, to create a truly unmissable Maiden World over the whole weekend!
“There will be a whole host of great music, great beer (of course!), lots of exciting and varied fun things to do, great souvenirs and merch, some unique and fantastic photo opportunities to create unbeatable Maiden memories, and of course, the true camaraderie that comes from being a Maiden fan.”
Gig promoters Stuart Galbraith and Alan Day of Kilimanjaro, and the creators of Sonisphere, add, “Maiden have a different view on how they want to do things for their fans than most bands. We previously worked with them at Sonisphere and when they explained what they wanted to do for this show we were hooked. It will be a unique event. A celebration of the Eddie-verse if you will: a curated Friday afternoon, night and all day Saturday, finishing with the last UK show Maiden will play until at least 2028!
“Creating something like that, which will include a once-in-a-lifetime Infinite Dreams museum experience, featuring a wide range of rarely-seen memorabilia from throughout their history, a Maiden-themed fun fair, the biggest Eddie’s Dive Bar ever with some extra special additions and surprises, plus the ability to camp, glamp or park a motorhome on site for the Friday and Saturday night show in a specially created ‘village’ space with Maiden Alumni, friends and our perfect partners, Planet Rock – well it was a chance not to be missed!”
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