Rabidfest 2026: Breaking Down The Bands #4: Black Candy!

If you haven’t already heard then let us remind you… Oxford’s biggest Metal Weekender Rabidfest will return to The Bullingdon over the weekend of 31st October and 1st November. It will see twenty bands playing the Devolution Magazine sponsored main stage over the course of two days of blood, sweat and beers as mosh pits get rowdy, sing-a-longs get wild and the odd band member or two leaps over the barrier to join the masses. If that’s not enough for you there is a warm up show cleverly titled “28 Days Prior” with more announcements to follow, so follow them on social media… or simply watch this space!

A warm up show dubbed “28 Days Prior” will take place at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford on 3rd October and the line up for that looks like this:

Anti-Clone (headliner)
Chaplain
Blackmarket
Away With The Seas

Rabidfest itself will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 31st October and 1st November 2026, here’s the line up in full:

Hacktivist (Saturday headliner)
n0trixx (Sunday headliner)
Thrashatouille
Maatkare
Swarm6ix
Black Candy
Devilhusk
The Dead XIII
The Crawling
Novacrow
Dacara
Rattlesnakes
Omegathrone
Spared An Endless Orbit
Necronomicunt
The Blade Itself
Twin Skeletons
Sabertooth
Lesbian Bed Death
Bldsugr

“Who the f*** are Black Candy and why are they worth the admittance fee?” we hear you cry! Originally formed in 1997, Black Candy are an Alternative Metal quartet who back in the day were likened to Rage Against The Machine and Sona Fariq with their blend of muscular riffs, pounding rhythms and infectious rapping. Their initial run may not have gained them the traction that they craved but with cuts like “Downfall” and “Not Over” they proved themselves in the live arena time and time again. A four year run came to and end in 2001 however fourteen years later they returned for a one off show in 2015 that ended up lasting two years. After dominating stages with the likes of King Prawn, Blaze Bayley and Sonic Boom Six in that second run as well as playing Metal 2 The Masses in Oxford they’re no strangers to stage dives and high fives, their rap-core orientated sound a nostalgia trip that is always worth taking.

We’re proud to be a Media Partner of Rabidfest again this year alongside Red Death Media, Moomin Merchandise, Chaos Under No Ties, Moshville Radio, GraphicsFix, TwoFace Promotions, Blackstar Amplification and main stage sponsor Devolution Magazine. The Festival is all for charity and this year the profits will be going to the The Sophie Lancaster Foundation!

Rabidfest will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 31st October and 1st November 2026:

Get your tickets -> https://www.rabidfest.co.uk

Get your merch -> https://shop.rabidfest.co.uk