V’s Metal Fest: A Promising First Edition With Room to Grow

The very first edition of V’s Metal Fest, organised by V’s Metal Media, took place recently—an ambitious debut that brought together 10 metal bands, nine of them hailing from Belgium. The sole foreign act, ArseA from Italy, flew in only a few hours before their set. Despite a warm welcome, the band had its share of challenges: sound issues persisted throughout their performance despite the sound engineer’s best efforts. Their singer, attempting to address the crowd in French, enthusiastically shouted “Bonsoir, Bruxelles!”—a charming and innocent (double) mistake that drew some smiles from the audience.

While the musical lineup was strong, turnout unfortunately wasn’t. Only a modest number of metal fans made it to the venue, a tough blow for an organiser launching a brand-new festival. With their own merch and even their own festival beer (we tried it, and we liked it!), V’s Metal Media clearly invested both passion and resources into the event. Hopefully, they’ll find channels to sell the remaining stock and soften the financial impact.

One thing became clear: 10 bands in a single-day festival might be a bit much, both for organisers and attendees. The schedule stretched from 13:40 all the way to 03:00, and by midnight most of the audience had already left. Even we didn’t make it to the end and missed the final two performances—fingers crossed there were still people present for those closing sets, assuming they played as planned.

Despite the challenges, V’s Metal Fest showed heart, dedication, and the kind of underground spirit that keeps the metal scene alive. We sincerely hope V’s Metal Media bounces back, learns from this first tough edition, and returns next year with an even stronger festival—and a bigger crowd. After all, every major event started small. The key is surviving that first edition.

Here’s hoping for V’s Metal Fest 2.0—louder, stronger, and packed with fans. Fingers crossed!