Hills Of Rock 2026, Day One – A Photo Gallery

The first day of Hills of Rock 2026 was on July 24th on the Rowing Channel in Plovdiv. The biggest metal festival in Bulgaria has gathered again world-famous artists and well-known Bulgarian bands. The festival was preceded by a wonderful evening called Be4Hills with the bands Sevi, Epica, Savatage and Sabaton. The fans for the first day of Hills of Rock were many. Since the previous year, they were waiting for the theatrical performance of the scandal artist Marilyn Manson and his band with the same name. In the evening, a crowd of over 20,000 fans celebrated with him at his cult dark show, decorated with glowing satanic crosses. Marilyn Manson is a complex iconic figure in the music world with a musical career, a career as a painter, and an owner of his own brand of absinthe. He performed the favorites “This Is The New Shit”, “We’re The Nobodies”, „I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)“, “The Beautiful People”, “Persona Jesus”, the new song “Exit Wound”, “Mobscene” and others.

Before Marilyn Manson, the fans saw the legendary punk band Sex Pistols, featuring the vocalist Frank Carter. At the beginning of the concert the impulsive Frank Carter jumped off the stage into the crowd and urged them to make “the biggest circle pit on this festival”. He continued singing from the crowd for several songs.

The evening has started with the band Vended. It features the sons of two members of Slipknot, Griffin Taylor, son of Corey Taylor and Simon Grahan, son of Shawn “Clown” Grahan.

Next, the Englishmen Malevolence made the audience do the wall of death and the first circle pit of the evening. P.O.D.’s performance was very emotional and strongly captured the attention of the fans.

On Power stage and Na Tamno stage have played Bulgarian bands, including Khanъ, P.I.F. , the English punk legends Toy Dolls and the American punk rappers HO9909.

For all the fans there were places with delicious meals, drinks, benches, and a corner with games. The merch was totally occupied by people who were in a hurry to buy items of their favorite bands or a festival T-shirt.

The people with hearing disabilities were also a full audience at the festival, as the organizers from Fest Team have made sure to have sign language interpreters especially for them.

Hills Of Rock 2026 is organized by “Fest Team” Ltd., as part of the “Heritage 2023” program of the “Plovdiv 2029” Foundation and with the support of the Plovdiv Municipality. Latest news and additional information are on www.festteam.bg, www.hillsofrock.bg and www.ticketstation.bg, and on the official festival profiles on social networks.

Photo Credits: Jasmina Ivanova

Da Seed