Ghostfest

Ghostfest was a metal/hardcore festival that took place in the Leeds Cockpit across 2 days in August in 2005 and 2006. It was thought up by Leeds promoter Toyan St Hilaire (under the alias of Ghostfest). He would bring together the cream of the UK’s underground hardcore and metal crop along with underground metal and hardcore bands from Europe and America. It is unlikely there will be a Ghostfest 2007 or another one for that matter as of incidents that happened on 7th October 2006.

Ghostfest 2005

The first Ghostfest took place on Saturday 13th August and Sunday 14th August at the Leeds Cockpit on its smaller stage. It played host to 18 of the best underground metal and hardcore acts the UK had to offer. It was £15 for a 2 day pass and the festival sold out in adavnce. The whole festival was shot and released as a DVD.

Ghostfest 2006

The second Ghostfest took place on Saturday 12th August and Sunday 13th August. It was once again held in the Cockpit but this time there were two stages. This made things difficult early on for Toyan as he had to switch between many venues including the Sheffield Corporation and Leeds Josephs Well, in the end he stuck with the Cockpit. Once again Ghostfest brought together the best underground bands the UK had to offer but it also showcased some heavyweight bands such as Canadian Death Metal legends, Cryptopsy and the increasingly popular at the time, Bring Me The Horizon. There were also popular post hardcore screamo bands in the form of The Blackout.
In a bid to let people see as many bands as possible without any potential clashes, when one band was setting up on one stage, another played on the other and after they had finished and the next band were setting up, another band played on the other stage.
A day ticket cost £19, whilst a weekend pass cost £25. During the weekend festival, some bands pulled out of their slots. (The bands with an asterix next to their name pulled out).

Main Stage

Second Stage