Nummirock Metal Festival 2025

Back in Summer 2017 I traveled to Finland for the first time and my friend Roger and I wanted to go to a Festival, somewhere in the forest, next to a lake and with a bunch of good bands. Nummirock came up and seemed to be a good choice. So we packed for a typical festival. Sunscreen, shorts and a hoodie, just in case if it gets a little bit colder. Shortly after arriving, the first thing I bought from one of the vendors were some gloves. Turns out, Finnish summer is a little bit different from what we are used to in central Europe. Back then, the coldest night was around 3 degrees, but at least, there was no snow… Apart from almost getting frostbite, a lot of good memories stuck with me ever since.

Fast forward 8 years it was time again, to pack for Nummi. But this time I prepared accordingly. So I changed the shorts for an extra pair of pants, added thermo-underwear, a warm jacket and of course, some gloves. When it comes to dressing for Nummi, you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The festival is located at the Nummijärvi, around 4h away from Helsinki and takes place on the midsummer weekend. Established in 1987, it is a festival with a long tradition. This year, they counted 17 ‚000 people and this sounds like a lot, but it is hardly noticeable. It did not feel too crowded at any given time. 

The Midsummer days are the longest and “warmest” of the year, at least on paper. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and the gates of heaven were open wide. Meaning: it was raining hard. The first few minutes we spend in the car, waiting for the rain to pass. The weather changes pretty quick, heavy rain at 4:00, sunshine at 4:30. That’s another typical thing about Finnish summer. After setting up the tent and camp, it was already time for the first bands. But first, let’s have a look at the festival area.

The festival contains two camping areas, one of them is directly at the lake Nummi and has a nice view, portable WC and a kebab stand, while the other one was the Mettäleirintä (Forest Camp). It has showers, multiple food stands and space for your tent and car. Speaking of cars: you park your vehicle where you’re camping. Although it is possible to arrive by public transport or by shuttle bus, which offers rides on Wednesday and Sunday. If you like to go earlier, you have to hike… or get a taxi, which is apparently very expensive. So naturally a lot of people come by car. And you see them in all shapes and forms. From small compact cars, to vans and campers to old buses and military cars. They came in a lot of colors and flavours.

And of course, because we are in Finland, there were no shortages of saunas. Many of them were small tent saunas, built by the campers themselves. I counted three on the straight path from our camp to the festival area, but there were many more in different corners of the camping area.

And this seems only logical, since 1st, Finns love Sauna and 2nd, it is not untypical to have temperatures as low as 5-10 degrees. That’s where good clothing comes into play. On Friday evening, I was dressed like in Winter. One positive note on that: it was too cold for the mosquitos, so that’s a win.

Last but not least is the festival area itself. It contains three stages, one next to the lake, the mainstage in the center and to its left a big party tent that holds the third. This stage, the Kaos-Klubi, did host mostly lesser known bands, some of them took part in the Wacken Metal Battle. In addition to that were speed-dating, Rockjoga, Burlesque shows and afterparties. The other two stages were exclusively for the bands. Speaking of: 45 artists and bands were there to be seen, 36 (80%) of which came from the hosting country.

Although there were multiple stages, they were played for the most part after each other. You could see almost every show in full. This was very refreshing and made it feel less busy. In terms of sound quality and mix, we were in for a treat. Almost all of the bands had a really good sound, especially Bloodred Hourglass. I never experienced them with such a good mix. They also marked one of the highlights of this year’s lineup.

Fans of Cattle Decapitation received bad news 15 days before the Festival; The band canceled their performance and with it their European-Tour. Their spot was filled by Stratovarius. Apart from that, the lineup was, as promised in the handed out flyer. And in case your watch broke, you did not need one, als long as you had the timetable. The performances of all the bands were so punctual, it was even impressive for me as a Swiss.

Of all the bands, Aquer from Chile did not seem to be stressed about the schedule. They came a few minutes before the gig on stage, took photos of the crowd and did some final set up of their gear. The announcer seemed to be a little bit confused, but non or less, at exactly 18:30 she joined the band on stage and made the announcement and left. A few minutes later, the performance started. A very amusing start, but the show itself was a little bit underwhelming. 

Surprising to me was that Decapitated has a new singer, and he is from Finland. Eemeli Bodde has replaced Rafał „Rasta“ Piotrowski since last year. I noticed the band did not have the same punch as I remembered, maybe it was the missing rastas or just nostalgia. But it seemed I was in the minority, since the crowd was on fire and had a great time.

Another band that stood out for me was Assemble the Chariots, Symphonic Deathcore from Finland, playing on the first day. Sound was very good and the energy and performance of the band made it difficult to stand still.They had a really rich sound, but unfortunately the lead guitarist was missing for unknown reasons, so that and the orchestral elements were pre-recorded.

Naturally I had to see Paleface Swiss. Although I never really connected with their sound, the show, on the other hand, was very entertaining. Singer Marc „Zelli“ Zellweger was very funny and gave us a taste of his German dialect. Equally amusing in-between-songs-talks was given by Alestorm’s lead vocalist. According to him, we are the best crowd, way better than Sweden. But in a few days he will also say to the Swedes, that they are way better than the Finns. Nice play with the endless rivalry of the two nations.

Saturday pulled the average age down by quite a bit. Parents could bring their kids for a few concerts. This was mostly because of Heavisaurus, the metal band with the dinos. And despite the rainy conditions, it was quite popular among the young and older metal fans and filled the area in front of the mainstage.

But there was more. Some carousel’s and a bouncy castle was set up for the enjoyment of the young metalheads. After around 5, everything was back to normal and mostly adults were on the field

In terms of lineup, this was not a strong year, at least not for my taste. But the bands are only one reason to go to this beautiful festival. The atmosphere, great hospitality and the beautiful nature makes it a festival that stays in mind. In contrast to TUSKA or WACKEN, this feels like a festival that is at a friend’s-friend house. Little touches like the homemade food, sofas to relax and the relatively small area makes it very cozy. According to stories I heard, some people come a week before the festival and set up their camp. This adds to the feeling that this is more like mini holidays, than just consuming culture.

In conclusion, this Festival is probably the most Finnish festival there is. A place that feels like home and the people who help to support that feeling. If you come from abroad and like to have a deep dive into the culture of this country, this is a great place to start.

See the great aftermovie from the festival