The 5th Annual fan-driven Blue Ridge Rock Festival returns this September 8th through 11th! After the mishaps of last year, I was really scared the fest wasn’t going to return… I’ve heard a lot of people left the fest unhappy and there were a lot of negative things to said about it. I can understand why people felt like that, yet, overall, I think there were a lot more positives that outweigh the negatives. Last year’s Blue Ridge was my first festival ever and it was honestly one of the best weeks of my life!
If you’ve been around me lately, you would know literally every other word out of my mouth is “Blue Ridge”!
Rather than releasing the lineup all at once, Blue Ridge Rock Fest does it day by day for months! It’s like an advent calendar; it’s so exciting to check on their socials everyday and be like, “No way, they’re going to be playing there, too!?” It’s great marketing on their behalf, because it really builds up the anticipation and excitement for us fans!
With over 60 bands and all headliners to still be announced, this year’s lineup is already looking amazing! This is said to be Blue Ridge’s strongest lineup yet, including 12 reunion shows, seven special performances, two debuts and one farewell show. A sample of the bands announced thus far are Alice Cooper, 3 Doors Down, Lamb of God, Motionless in White, Ice Nine Kills, A Day To Remember, Gojira, Seether, Tenacious D, Skillet, Anthrax, I Prevail, Killswitch Engage, In This Moment, Jinger, Nothing More, Hollywood Undead, Jelly Roll, Black Veil Brides, Thrice, Sleeping With Sirens, Candlebox, Starset, In Flames, We Came As Roman, Bad Wolves, All That Remains, Bad Omens, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Sevendust, Silverstein, Butcher Babies and many more!
What I love about Blue Ridge is that it is a completely “fan-driven festival”: everything gets voted on, from the lineup to vendors to even pricing. Before bands were announced, festival organizers asked questions on BRRF’s socials, like how many days and stages people wanted for 2022. This year, fans voted to have the stages be reduced from six to five stages, make it four full days (with the first day being a kick-off party) and to have no overlapping of main stage performances. There was also a lot of controversy with last year’s “Golden Circle Pass”, so fans voted to get rid of it. I love that the management of this festival actually cares and listens to attendees.
This year’s fest will also be held at a new venue — the Virginia International Raceway. I loved last year’s venue, but excited to go to a festival at a raceway! Another way Blue Ridge has been building anticipation is with their subtle clues. If you read the captions on their socials, you might find a sentence like “It would be A Grave Mistake to not brace yourself for the Hurricane of artist announcements that will leave you feeling like a King For A Day.” Ice Nine Kills and I Prevail were confirmed for this clue, but fans had to wait for the most recent lineup update to reveal that it actually was Pierce the Veil!
I mean, that clue could’ve possibly been Green Day…?
All passes are still available at this time, including three or four-day GA, three or four-day VIP and an all new Rockstar Pass. The Rockstar Pass gives you access to their “Side Side” stage viewing platform on both main stages, meet-and-greets, private acoustic sets, air-conditioned bathrooms, the Rockstar Lounge and so much more. Single-day passes are coming soon. Last year’s fest sold out only four days after the full lineup was announced, so be sure to grab your tickets now. All camping options are also still available, but are going fast!
Blue Ridge further announced that they are partnering with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to provide high-powered setup onsite, which is great. The cell service at last year’s fest was a little rough and I definitely got lost a bunch of times because I couldn’t contact anybody. Vendors and secondary experiences are still to be announced although the fan-favorite Club Experience is coming back this year! The Club opens right when the last band ends their set and runs until 2am! Last year’s Club Experience lineup featured Ludacris, T-Pain, Rev Run (of Run-DMC) and Lil Jon, so who knows who we’ll get this year!
Every so often, Blue Ridge still posts polls on which bands and experiences people want to see, so it’s not too late to join in on the fun and be a part of this fan-driven fest! 2022 is going to be insane, so be sure you don’t miss it and get your tickets via the links below.
TSM curated Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2022 playlist:
Links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Share this article
or
Get music updates in your inbox