Epic Fest
Festival Report 2025
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Thanks to Epic Fest, our first festival of the year took place in early April.
Epic Fest is still a young festival. We were there the first time it saw the light of day in 2023, but were then sadly unable to attend last year. Coming back to it now, what struck me was how quickly the festival was growing up, and growing in general. In 2023, it all took place at the club venue of Gimle, hosting a few hundreds visitors of almost exclusively Danes, with a good handful or so of Swedes from just across the bridge.
Now, Gimle was the smallest stage of three, whereas the two other stages were located in the nearby Roskilde Congress Centre, and the festival had now sold around 3000 tickets, with visitors coming in from as far away as Japan and Australia!
This is of course testament to the savvy cunning of the festival brain, Søren Weiss Kristiansen, who took a concept few thought would be viable - a power metal festival in Denmark - and fully committed to it. Well, look at it now. This is a veritable success story unfolding in front of our eyes.
Weiss Kristiansen and the rest of the crew behind this festival obviously didn’t just fall upon success by chance; there’s a lot of hard work and dedication behind Epic Fest, and the good thing is that it shows. Leading up to the festival, they created beautifully detailed Dungeons & Dragons like maps of the festival layout, and when we showed up, we were greeted by grand Epic Fest flags blowing in the wind, and a spacious tent where adventurers could get their magic festival bracelet on, as well as sit down by the long tables and get a drink or some warm food from the grill just outside.
We could then walk along a stone corridor (finely detailed painted cloths hung on a high metal fence) into the festival hall proper. There was the merch vendor right inside, with a wardrobe off to one side and another recreational hall off to the other, where majestic banners hung on the walls, and the tables were set with black candles. This was the antechamber to King Roar’s Hall, the second stage. A longer corridor, bedecked by tree decorations, led down to The Realm of Might & Magic, in the common tongue known as the main stage. This was placed in the main hall of the Congress Centre, and in addition to the stage itself, it held a tavern built among the shiny crystals of the cave we were in, as well as a special potions trader whose stand was lit by magically glowing dice of large proportions. In the end with the tavern and the potions seller, long tables were set up for the weary traveller.
The stage itself was also a sight to behold; hewn out of the very granite of the cave walls, there were vines, moss, and other plants growing off the stone, and in places enchanted runes gave off a phosphorescent glow in the dark.
For the dwarves of Wind Rose, headliner of the second day, this was of course the optimal setting, but it looked hellishly good for the other bands playing here as well.
As you can see, Epic Fest provided a highly enchanting place for the two April days it lasted, and be sure that many visitors had taken this to heart and showed up in full larp outfits - there were elves, rogues, and goblins lurking around every corner!
To be fair, Epic Fest, while being mainly a music festival, also catered to other wants and needs of their guests, as in The RavenTavern next to Gimle there were daily games of D&D held, as well as miniature figure painting sessions. In the Congress Centre, there was a corner set up for gaming on Nintendo Switches - I’m guessing you could play some fantasy game, but I never got round to checking it out, what with the tight schedule that lay before us.
With three active stages, there were bound to be overlaps in music, and decisions had to be made. When a band played the main stage, that was always the only band playing, Gimle and King Roar’s Hall had overlaps however, and on the first day, Theocracy played a special gig in the nearby cathedral, Roskilde Domkirke, which overlapped with both Bloodorn at Gimle and Iotunn at King Roar’s Hall. We missed that one, as we were attending Iotunn’s show, and incidentally there was also no chance of catching Theocracy’s regular show on Saturday, as they were then playing at the same time as Hulkoff, and you better believe we weren’t going to miss that!
Well, now that we have breached the subject of music, what is there to say about that? As mentioned, Epic Fest is a power metal festival, so it was inherently not as varied as many, well all I guess, other festivals we’ve visited, but even within the restrictions of power metal, Epic Fest has managed to find a level of diversity, hiring both old and new bands, and bands ranging from the highly epic to the more progressive, the symphonic to the pure speed cannons. And let’s be fair, I think we can deem it power and adjacent rather than purely power; I mean, how else would a band like Hulkoff get thrown in the mix, for example? On paper, they would be a better fit for Weiss Kristiansen’s other festival endeavour, Udgårdsfest, which focuses on folk metal. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy they were here, but also a bit surprised.
For us, the festival opened with Fabio Lione’s Dawn Of Victory and his set of old Rhapsody songs, partly played together with the Roskilde Domkirkes Pigekor (Roskilde Cathedral Girls Choir), and that was a victory both in name and execution. What an epic way to start the festival off! We then went more local with the quite heavier Iotunn, who were definitely pulling more in the progressive direction. After an underwhelming headliner show by Stratovarius, we had to drop Majestica in order to load up on something to eat before our personal favourites of the day, Ross The Boss! Our meal was slightly delayed however, due to us encountering the most fabulous of street entertainment in the guise of Ællevild, a musical constellation built around the madly creative minds of Laura Emilie Beck and Ambrosius Mesterton Graae. We of course know Beck from her time in Huldre, as should you, but that’s another story altogether. Ællevild was hilarious, and provided a perfect injection of good mood and energy, just what we needed at this point of the day.
Ross The Boss and band delivered everything we hoped for to round out the day before it was time to head home. Insania was kicking ass on the second stage when we passed, but we opted to skip them in order to be just a wee bit fresh for the second day.
The second day arrived, and with it more music - so much music! Pagan’s Mind had the honour of opening the main stage this day, quickly followed by Royal Hunt on the second stage, after which it was straight back to the main stage and Crimson Glory, after which the jojo effect brought us back to the second stage with Nanowar Of Steel. Feeling well and truly tossed around by this time, a short break was needed before once again entering The Realm of Might & Magic for the official headliner of the day, Wind Rose. Not unlike the day before, we had our own headlining event still in front of us however, as we left Wind Rose a little early to be sure to make it in time for our one and only gig at Gimle this year, Hulkoff.
The epicness of this gig made us come back a little late to the Congress Centre, and we only managed to catch the last couple or so songs of Fellowship, which was then followed by Judicator in King Roar’s Hall, the last show of the festival. As you can imagine, we were pretty beat at this time, and had to accept surrender and leave before the show was fully over.
So, what is there to say? I’ll say that Epic Fest well and truly lived up to its name!
I’m still so impressed with the explosive growth the festival has gone through in such a short time, and I’m impressed with the level of detail and dedication that is poured into the festival by those who make it happen. I’ve already touched on the visuals and content of the festival, but let us not forget that they also worked together with breweries to deliver not one, not two, but four special festival ales! They bore the bewitching names of Ale Of The Mountain King, Epic And Juicy Mana, Goodberry Potion, and Tears Of The Dragon. If your taste wasn’t in ale however, the festival also provided two specifically made ciders, Drunken Dendroid and Power Of The Nordic Ents.
If one wish could be put in, it would be that the choices of food would follow in the drinkers footsteps - there were two places selling food, one for warm food and one more dedicated to sandwiches and snacks. I know the festival technically is placed quite central in the town of Roskilde, and there are restaurants and the like around outside, but for one thing, not having to leave the centre for too long would be nice with the packed schedule, and secondly, all the nearby restaurants close infamously early, long before the festival closes, so that’s another good reason for the festival to have its own setup.
Another thing to think about is that the exit and corridor outside of the main stage became absolutely flooded with people as soon as a main stage show was over, far more than the place was built for, creating a bottleneck of epic proportions. As this was their first time using the large hall however, I’m sure this is something they’ll take into consideration for future events.
Both of these things were minor gripes however, whereas the big take away was that this was a beautiful festival to visit, where the organisation was running on tracks, and everyone was smiling and helpful all the time. We hope to visit many times in the future.
Epic Fest is still a young festival. We were there the first time it saw the light of day in 2023, but were then sadly unable to attend last year. Coming back to it now, what struck me was how quickly the festival was growing up, and growing in general. In 2023, it all took place at the club venue of Gimle, hosting a few hundreds visitors of almost exclusively Danes, with a good handful or so of Swedes from just across the bridge.
Now, Gimle was the smallest stage of three, whereas the two other stages were located in the nearby Roskilde Congress Centre, and the festival had now sold around 3000 tickets, with visitors coming in from as far away as Japan and Australia!
This is of course testament to the savvy cunning of the festival brain, Søren Weiss Kristiansen, who took a concept few thought would be viable - a power metal festival in Denmark - and fully committed to it. Well, look at it now. This is a veritable success story unfolding in front of our eyes.
Weiss Kristiansen and the rest of the crew behind this festival obviously didn’t just fall upon success by chance; there’s a lot of hard work and dedication behind Epic Fest, and the good thing is that it shows. Leading up to the festival, they created beautifully detailed Dungeons & Dragons like maps of the festival layout, and when we showed up, we were greeted by grand Epic Fest flags blowing in the wind, and a spacious tent where adventurers could get their magic festival bracelet on, as well as sit down by the long tables and get a drink or some warm food from the grill just outside.
We could then walk along a stone corridor (finely detailed painted cloths hung on a high metal fence) into the festival hall proper. There was the merch vendor right inside, with a wardrobe off to one side and another recreational hall off to the other, where majestic banners hung on the walls, and the tables were set with black candles. This was the antechamber to King Roar’s Hall, the second stage. A longer corridor, bedecked by tree decorations, led down to The Realm of Might & Magic, in the common tongue known as the main stage. This was placed in the main hall of the Congress Centre, and in addition to the stage itself, it held a tavern built among the shiny crystals of the cave we were in, as well as a special potions trader whose stand was lit by magically glowing dice of large proportions. In the end with the tavern and the potions seller, long tables were set up for the weary traveller.
The stage itself was also a sight to behold; hewn out of the very granite of the cave walls, there were vines, moss, and other plants growing off the stone, and in places enchanted runes gave off a phosphorescent glow in the dark.
For the dwarves of Wind Rose, headliner of the second day, this was of course the optimal setting, but it looked hellishly good for the other bands playing here as well.
As you can see, Epic Fest provided a highly enchanting place for the two April days it lasted, and be sure that many visitors had taken this to heart and showed up in full larp outfits - there were elves, rogues, and goblins lurking around every corner!
To be fair, Epic Fest, while being mainly a music festival, also catered to other wants and needs of their guests, as in The RavenTavern next to Gimle there were daily games of D&D held, as well as miniature figure painting sessions. In the Congress Centre, there was a corner set up for gaming on Nintendo Switches - I’m guessing you could play some fantasy game, but I never got round to checking it out, what with the tight schedule that lay before us.
With three active stages, there were bound to be overlaps in music, and decisions had to be made. When a band played the main stage, that was always the only band playing, Gimle and King Roar’s Hall had overlaps however, and on the first day, Theocracy played a special gig in the nearby cathedral, Roskilde Domkirke, which overlapped with both Bloodorn at Gimle and Iotunn at King Roar’s Hall. We missed that one, as we were attending Iotunn’s show, and incidentally there was also no chance of catching Theocracy’s regular show on Saturday, as they were then playing at the same time as Hulkoff, and you better believe we weren’t going to miss that!
Well, now that we have breached the subject of music, what is there to say about that? As mentioned, Epic Fest is a power metal festival, so it was inherently not as varied as many, well all I guess, other festivals we’ve visited, but even within the restrictions of power metal, Epic Fest has managed to find a level of diversity, hiring both old and new bands, and bands ranging from the highly epic to the more progressive, the symphonic to the pure speed cannons. And let’s be fair, I think we can deem it power and adjacent rather than purely power; I mean, how else would a band like Hulkoff get thrown in the mix, for example? On paper, they would be a better fit for Weiss Kristiansen’s other festival endeavour, Udgårdsfest, which focuses on folk metal. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy they were here, but also a bit surprised.
For us, the festival opened with Fabio Lione’s Dawn Of Victory and his set of old Rhapsody songs, partly played together with the Roskilde Domkirkes Pigekor (Roskilde Cathedral Girls Choir), and that was a victory both in name and execution. What an epic way to start the festival off! We then went more local with the quite heavier Iotunn, who were definitely pulling more in the progressive direction. After an underwhelming headliner show by Stratovarius, we had to drop Majestica in order to load up on something to eat before our personal favourites of the day, Ross The Boss! Our meal was slightly delayed however, due to us encountering the most fabulous of street entertainment in the guise of Ællevild, a musical constellation built around the madly creative minds of Laura Emilie Beck and Ambrosius Mesterton Graae. We of course know Beck from her time in Huldre, as should you, but that’s another story altogether. Ællevild was hilarious, and provided a perfect injection of good mood and energy, just what we needed at this point of the day.
Ross The Boss and band delivered everything we hoped for to round out the day before it was time to head home. Insania was kicking ass on the second stage when we passed, but we opted to skip them in order to be just a wee bit fresh for the second day.
The second day arrived, and with it more music - so much music! Pagan’s Mind had the honour of opening the main stage this day, quickly followed by Royal Hunt on the second stage, after which it was straight back to the main stage and Crimson Glory, after which the jojo effect brought us back to the second stage with Nanowar Of Steel. Feeling well and truly tossed around by this time, a short break was needed before once again entering The Realm of Might & Magic for the official headliner of the day, Wind Rose. Not unlike the day before, we had our own headlining event still in front of us however, as we left Wind Rose a little early to be sure to make it in time for our one and only gig at Gimle this year, Hulkoff.
The epicness of this gig made us come back a little late to the Congress Centre, and we only managed to catch the last couple or so songs of Fellowship, which was then followed by Judicator in King Roar’s Hall, the last show of the festival. As you can imagine, we were pretty beat at this time, and had to accept surrender and leave before the show was fully over.
So, what is there to say? I’ll say that Epic Fest well and truly lived up to its name!
I’m still so impressed with the explosive growth the festival has gone through in such a short time, and I’m impressed with the level of detail and dedication that is poured into the festival by those who make it happen. I’ve already touched on the visuals and content of the festival, but let us not forget that they also worked together with breweries to deliver not one, not two, but four special festival ales! They bore the bewitching names of Ale Of The Mountain King, Epic And Juicy Mana, Goodberry Potion, and Tears Of The Dragon. If your taste wasn’t in ale however, the festival also provided two specifically made ciders, Drunken Dendroid and Power Of The Nordic Ents.
If one wish could be put in, it would be that the choices of food would follow in the drinkers footsteps - there were two places selling food, one for warm food and one more dedicated to sandwiches and snacks. I know the festival technically is placed quite central in the town of Roskilde, and there are restaurants and the like around outside, but for one thing, not having to leave the centre for too long would be nice with the packed schedule, and secondly, all the nearby restaurants close infamously early, long before the festival closes, so that’s another good reason for the festival to have its own setup.
Another thing to think about is that the exit and corridor outside of the main stage became absolutely flooded with people as soon as a main stage show was over, far more than the place was built for, creating a bottleneck of epic proportions. As this was their first time using the large hall however, I’m sure this is something they’ll take into consideration for future events.
Both of these things were minor gripes however, whereas the big take away was that this was a beautiful festival to visit, where the organisation was running on tracks, and everyone was smiling and helpful all the time. We hope to visit many times in the future.
