Rabidfest 2026: Breaking Down The Bands #12: Vampyra!

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could raise money for a good cause like The Sophie Lancaster Foundation without having to run a marathon, make a cake or do the ice bucket challenge? Well you can! All you have to do is grab a ticket and head down to The Bullingdon in the heart of Oxford for Rabidfest over Halloween weekend! On Saturday 31st October and Sunday 1st November you’ll be greeted there by no less than twenty bands, many of whom have competed in Metal 2 The Masses or played Bloodstock Open Air Festival as well as hordes of like minded individuals. So while you’re getting a drink at the bar or joining in the mosh pit action, you can rest assured that the profits are going to do good things and you were part of it! If anyone asks you what you did over the weekend, you don’t even have yo say you went to another gig or festival, you can just say you did a bit for charity and no one will be any the wiser! It’s a party! You’re invited!

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:

A late addition to the Rabidfest line up this year replacing Thrashatouille while describing themselves as the “band straight out of your nightmares” are Vampyra. Rising from the grave, the quartet played the New Blood stage at Bloodstock this summer, entertaining the masses with their Horror Punk antics. They’ve even gone as far as creating characters or alter egos for themselves with vocalist Gemma Morris as Madame Hex, guitarist Danny Perryman as Count Venom II, bassist Benji Rutherford as Boingo and drummer Dana ‘Dill’ Tasker as Ingrid Orlok. The madness doesn’t end there either with costumes and makeup galore, the only question being whether they’ll join the likes of Ward XVI and bring out the knives and fake blood theatrics too. Having previously shared crypts with the likes of Famyne, She Sells Sin and Opensight they’ve proven they can hold their own on stages across the country. A clutch of singles including “I Don’t Wanna Be Human” recorded, mixed and produced by Graham ‘G-man’ Waller (Chemical Storm, Urgehal, Momentomb) at Squarehead Studios have given us the idea that Wednesday 13, Type O Negative and The Misfits could be influences but we highly recommend checking them out for yourselves!

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