Birmingham, AL punk/hardcore/metal/emo festival Furnace Fest, which ran from 2000-2003, was supposed to return for its 20th anniversary in 2020, exciting reunions included. Of course, coronavirus happened, postponing the fest until May of 2021. It’s now been postponed again, back to the month it was originally planned for; the new dates are September 24-26 at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham.

They’ve also announced an adjusted lineup (with many of the same bands), headlined by Underoath on Friday 9/24, Taking Back Sunday on Saturday 9/25, and Killswitch Engage on Sunday 9/26. The rest of the lineup looks like this:

FRIDAY: Astronoid, Cave In, Converge, Defeater, Eighteen Visions, Emery, End, ERRA, Every Time I Die, Few Left Standing, From Autumn to Ashes, Gideon, Glasseater, Haste, Luxury, Mr. ENC, Narcissus, Open Hand, Reclaim the Empyre, Rivals, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Stavesacre, Terminal, Thursday, Unwed Sailor, With Honor, Zao

SATURDAY: All Get Out, Anberlin, The Appleseed Cast, The Beautiful Mistake, Beloved, Better Off, The Bled, Bloodjinn, Cartel, Codeseven, The Darling Fire, Evergreen Terrace, Forever Starts Today, Further Seems Forever, He is Legend, Hopesfall, Life In Your Way, Living Sacrifice, Mae, Mayday Parade, Mineral, Misery Signals, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Shai Hulud, Stretch Arm Strong, Touché Amoré, Turnstile

SUNDAY: ’68, Andrew W.K. As Friends Rust, August Burns Red, Bad Cop Bad Cop, Be Well, Boy Sets Fire, The Casket Lottery, Comeback Kid, Counterparts, Darkest Hour, Face to Face, Fit for a King, The Get Up Kids, Hatebreed, Holy+Gold, Hot Water Music, The Judas Cradle, The Juliana Theory, Knocked Loose, Love is Red, Meadows, mewithoutYou, Piebald, Showbread, Unearth

Who knows if it’ll actually be safe for this to happen, but if it does, this lineup is truly nuts. If you’re into this kinda music, it’s hard to think of a band not worth seeing, and they’ve got everything from rare sets by veteran bands to some of the genre’s most promising new acts.

“Thank you for being patient with us,” the fest writes. They continue:

When life hands you lemons, make Furnace Fest 2021?
Without further ado, here’s the lineup that has only taken us 21 years to realize!
Full weekend passes, single-day tickets, and VIP upgrades for this one-time resurrection on the haunted grounds of Sloss Furnaces are available now at www.furnacefest.us
See you in September!

Wait, wait, wait! What about all my questions?
Oh, right. You have questions. Fair enough!

Q: I already purchased tickets; what do I to ensure access?
IF YOU ALREADY PURCHASED passes (3-day, single-day, Beloved bundles), you have two options:
1. Keep your current ticket(s) which will be valid for the new Fall dates. No additional steps are required.
2. For those who cannot make the new dates, we’ll open a 30-day refund window (March 6th – April 5th) on tickets purchased before today. You may request a refund by emailing your order number to [email protected]. Even if you’ve messaged us on social media or emailed us directly, you must email your order # to the freshtix email above.
Deadline for refund requests is April 2nd, 2021.

Q: If I request a refund but feel I might be able to attend the festival in the end, will I get tickets at the early bird pricing, along with the bundle items that originally came with my ticket order?
You are more than welcome to request a refund, even if you are eventually able to repurchase. Unfortunately, early bird pricing and bundle items are limited to tickets already purchased/held and are not transferable to new ticket purchases.

Q: I’m still not comfortable with the idea of attending a large gathering. What makes you so confident, and how will you address Covid concerns?
We get it! First of all, we’ll observe all local & national large gathering guidelines for both the audience and the artists, with safety being 100% the top priority on both sides of the fence.
We are more confident than ever that Furnace Fest will happen this September. Covid cases are trending down. We have access to three highly effective vaccines with others in development. Much larger events have either already happened (Super Bowl) or are scheduled for our same timeframe (Riot, Alabama Football, Louder than Life).
In a worst-case scenario, we’ll be transparent with you about the possibility of any postponement. Ticket purchases will always be transferable, and you may now purchase ticket cancellation protection ($20.11 for 3-day passes) to guarantee your money back.

Q: What safety protocols are you putting in place as of now?
1. Furnace Fest is a 100% outdoor event with no gatherings indoors at all.
2. Masks will be required (unless the CDC lifts this pre-FF).
3. Hand sanitizer will be available at the gate and throughout the grounds.
4. An isolation area will be available if anyone needs first aid or doesn’t feel well after entering the fest.
5. High-touch surfaces will be routinely cleaned, including handles/toilets/buttons/handrails (again, unless the CDC lifts this).
6. Staff & volunteers will be required to wear face masks and receive temperature scans (anyone above 100.4 will be sent home).

Thank you for your continued support!
Follow us on social media for updates!
*While we don’t anticipate this, the schedule is subject to change.