Metal

Metal has the most settled festival uniform of any scene: black band tees, denim or leather, boots, and a battle jacket that shows where you have been. It also happens to suit mud, which Download and Wacken have both had plenty of. We could not read the official rules on spikes and chains for Download, Hellfest or Wacken, so check each festival's own page before you pack studs.

Where it comes from

• The shared look is "black clothes, long hair and leather jackets", band t-shirts, "denim or leather vests or jackets with band patches", combat boots and "spiked wristbands". Wikipedia: Heavy metal fashion
• Sub-genres have their own marks: corpse paint in black metal, bullet belts in extreme metal, and "chain mail, animals skins, warpaint" in folk and Viking metal. Wikipedia: Heavy metal fashion
• Bikers began wearing band patches on cut-offs in the 1970s, and metalheads "popularized the name 'battle jacket'… during the 1980s". Early fans hand-embroidered band logos because commercial patches did not exist yet; once bands sold patches at shows, fans sewed them on as proof they had been there. Wikipedia: Cut-off
• Battle jackets faded in the grunge and nu-metal 1990s, survived in the black and death metal scenes, and came back in the 2000s. Wikipedia: Cut-off
• Metal festivals have a mud record. In 2019 "Torrential rain left Donington extremely muddy" at Download. Wikipedia: Download Festival
• At Wacken in 2023, heavy rainfall led to "a ban of motorised vehicles", and attendees who could not get in were refunded. Wikipedia: Wacken Open Air

Key pieces

• Battle vest or kutteDenim or leather, covered in band patches.
• Black band teePack several; they are the base of every outfit.
• Black skinny or cargo jeansCargo pockets help when bag space is tight.
• Combat boots or high-top sneakersBoots are the better bet if rain is forecast.
• Leather jacketFor cold nights; it shrugs off light rain.
• Bullet belt or studded leatherCheck the festival's rules on spikes and chains first.
• Wellies and a rain layerFor mud years at Download and Wacken.

Leave these at home

• Large chains and spiked jewellery at Lollapalooza. Its safety page bans "Large chains or spiked jewelry". Lollapalooza safety
• Chain wallets at Coachella. Its FAQ bans "Chains or Chain Wallets". Coachella FAQ
• Chain wallets at Stagecoach. Chains and chain wallets are on its banned list. Stagecoach General Info