BLAZE BAYLEY added to IRON MAIDEN's EDDFEST; will play set from his era
01-04-2026
IRON MAIDEN‘s highly anticipated Eddfest weekend this summer has just got even bigger with the announcement that Blaze Bayley, who fronted the band from 1994 to 1999, will be headlining the Friday night Maidenville stage. He is the latest name to be revealed, as part of the all-encompassing celebration of IRON MAIDEN‘s 50th anniversary that will be taking place on the iconic Knebworth site.
“I’m so excited to be invited to headline Friday night at Eddfest, celebrating 50 years of IRON MAIDEN,” says Blaze. “I am so proud of my two albums with the band and I’m really looking forward to playing some of the songs that we recorded together. Can’t wait to see you all at the hallowed grounds of Knebworth!”
Fans can expect to hear Blaze Bayley and his band deliver a powerful set of songs from “The X Factor” and “Virtual XI”, the albums he released during his time as IRON MAIDEN‘s lead singer. Blaze co-wrote some of the songs on those albums with band founder Steve Harris, and Friday night’s Maidenville stage has been personally curated by Steve Harris to showcase many elements of his musical career.
Steve has also invited GYPSY’S KISS, the band he formed in 1974 with singer and guitarist David Smith, to perform on the Maidenville stage on Friday night too. As the very first band Steve Harris ever played with they were an instrumental part of Steve‘s journey to form IRON MAIDEN a year later and create one of the most iconic rock bands of all time.
Steve Harris says: “Having the opportunity to put together our very own festival at Knebworth, and celebrate 50 years of IRON MAIDEN, has given me a chance to bring together friends past and present and create a really special weekend for the fans.
“I’m very pleased that Blaze is able to join us and perform some of the songs we wrote and recorded in the ’90s. He has been a big part of IRON MAIDEN‘s career and I know the fans will be really excited to see him on stage at Eddfest. It’s also great to have GYPSY’S KISS playing with us at Knebworth too. They were a big part of my musical heritage and it’s really exciting to have them play at the Maidenville stage.”
Friday night, July 10 on the Maidenville second stage
BLAZE BAYLEY
STRAY
MAIDEN UNITED
AIRFORCE
GYPSY’S KISS
TONY MOORE’S AWAKE
Hair Metal Glamageddon
Saturday night, July 11 on the main stage
IRON MAIDEN
THE DARKNESS
THE HU
AIRBOURNE
THE ALMIGHTY
Eddfest is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience what constitutes IRON MAIDEN‘s idea of a fun-filled 48 hours of entertainment, themed areas and bars, experiences, live music and more. Inside Eddfest fans will be able to explore the Infinite Dreams Museum Experience, a walk-through display of stage props and relics, inspired by Sunday Times bestseller book “Infinite Dreams”. This is an unprecedented and completely unique opportunity to view MAIDEN relics up close and personal.
The Eddfest festival starts from 2 p.m. on Friday with camping included for both nights. Various parts of the Maidenville site will be open to weekend campers throughout Friday afternoon and into the early hours of Saturday morning, including the Infinite Dreams Museum Experience.
Friday Night at Eddfest is all about fun before the big day. Campers will be able to gain early access to the site and experiences, including first access to the Infinite Dreams Museum Experience. They will also enjoy a whole evening of entertainment on the Maidenville stage featuring the unique mix of special acts with a connection to MAIDEN.
Saturday sees the opening of the Main Arena, which includes Eddie’s Extended Emporium, the Trooper VIP area and a range of interactive experiences. Saturday-only tickets also allow access to Maidenville, where fans can join in the fun at the greatest Eddie’s Dive Bar yet, enjoy the Infinite Dreams Museum Experience, take part in the Unfair Funfair, featuring rides and demented Eddie-themed Funfair Games, plus explore Eddie’s Emporium, with even more surprises to explore throughout the site.
It all culminates with the main stage performances on the Saturday, featuring an exceptional supporting line-up, ahead of IRON MAIDEN‘s show-stopping “Run For Your Lives” performance.
Eddfest is going to be a truly exceptional weekend for each and every MAIDEN fan in attendance — an unforgettable chance to be part of a fully themed festival experience, celebrating IRON MAIDEN‘s spectacular 50-year career… and the last chance to see them in the U.K. until at least 2028.
Camping tickets are separate to the event tickets and available to purchase in parallel.
MAIDEN manager Rod Smallwood explains: “After the monumental shows in the U.K. last year, we knew that if we were going to play the U.K. in 2026, it had to be very different. So we chose Knebworth Park as it gives us the space required — which is just not available in stadiums — to put together something groundbreaking for our fans by creating a ‘MAIDEN world’ for them. We are excited to now reveal the details of this one-off event to celebrate the band’s 50-year career, which we are now calling Eddfest, because, as everyone knows, Eddie is the true star of the show! We also know MAIDEN fans are basically a huge gang and we want to give them a weekend to remember at Knebworth.
“For the last couple of tours we have been arranging the Eddie Dive Bars for our fans, both pre- and post-show. Some of these took over the entire centres of towns with thousands of fans gathered there enjoying the fun, the music and each other’s company. So Eddfest is going to expand on that concept in a huge variety of ways, to create a truly unmissable ‘MAIDEN world’ over the whole weekend!
“There will be a whole host of great music, great beer (of course!),lots of exciting and varied fun things to do, great souvenirs and merch, some unique and fantastic photo opportunities to create unbeatable MAIDEN memories, and of course, the true camaraderie that comes from being a MAIDEN fan.”
Kilimanjaro promoters Stuart Galbraith and Alan Day, the creators of Sonisphere, add: “MAIDEN have a different view on how they want to do things for their fans than most bands. We previously worked with them at Sonisphere and when they explained what they wanted to do for this show we were hooked. It will be a unique event. A celebration of the Eddie-verse, if you will: a curated Friday afternoon, night and all day Saturday, finishing with the last U.K. show MAIDEN will play until at least 2028!
“Creating something like that, which will include a once-in-a-lifetime Infinite Dreams museum experience, featuring a wide range of rarely-seen memorabilia from throughout their history, a MAIDEN-themed fun fair, the biggest Eddie’s Dive Bar ever with some extra special additions and surprises, plus the ability to camp, glamp or park a motorhome on site for the Friday and Saturday night show in a specially created ‘village’ space with MAIDEN alumni, friends and our perfect partners Planet Rock — well, it was a chance not to be missed!”
Tickets available via ironmaiden.knebworth.com, myticket.co.uk, ticketmaster.co.uk and, of course, ironmaiden.com
Camping tickets are separate to the event tickets and available to purchase in parallel
For further details, to purchase tickets and to stay updated on all things to do with IRON MAIDEN at Knebworth, including FAQs and timings, make sure you check out the dedicated site: ironmaiden.knebworth.com
In a December 2025 interview with Neil Jones of TotalRock, IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris spoke about the book “Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams – The Official Visual History” which was released on October 7 via Thames & Hudson. “Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams – The Official Visual History” is described in a press release as “a magnificent visual celebration of the first 50 years of IRON MAIDEN, chronicl(ing) the evolution of heavy metal’s most prestigious band, with unparalleled input from band members and management.”
Asked if it was “weird” for him to have to “look backward” while putting together the book after previously stating that he always looks forward and rarely gets nostalgic, Harris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, it wasn’t weird, but it was difficult because I was the only one who could really do it because I was the one that had all the archive stuff and could comment about it and stuff like that, really. I suppose David (Murray, IRON MAIDEN guitarist) could comment on a few things, but I suppose back in the day I was the only sensible one at the time, because I had to be, ’cause I pulled the bull by the horns and did a lot of the driving, so I didn’t get sort of too drunk back in them days. And some people working (with us back in) them days can’t remember a lot because they were sort of inebriated a lot of the time — people like Dave Murray or (our old) drum road or whatever. So, yeah, it was down to me to sort of pull it all together, I suppose. And obviously I had a lot of help from Ben Smallwood, (MAIDEN‘s longtime manager) Rod‘s (Smallwood) son, and so that was great. But, yeah, it’s all good stuff, really. But it’s nice to get it out there, really. It’s almost a relief in a way to get it out there because it’s stuff that’s been lying around for a long time. It needed to be sorted out and then put into some sort of perspective and some sort of formulated form so that people can just hopefully enjoy it.”
Asked if he always was “a bit of a scrapbook keeper” who deliberately hung on to stuff, Steve said: “Well, I’ve always been sort of a bit of a hoarder, I suppose, with stuff like that, but it’s come in handy in later life, I think. There’s so much stuff that I’ve kept. And, yeah, it’s just an archive of this historical stuff. And in fact I suppose these days I wish I’d kept more, even more stuff. I wish I’d kept a diary for longer as well, because I only kept a diary in the first place just because to log, really, how much we were getting paid or how much we weren’t getting paid in (some) cases. And then I used to make a few notes on what the gig was like and stuff like that. But I wish I’d carried it on, really.”
IRON MAIDEN‘s last album “Senjutsu” came out in September 2021 on Warner records. It marked MAIDEN‘s second consecutive double album behind 2015’s “The Book Of Souls” which is the longest MAIDEN album, with a running time of 92 minutes.
The full track listing is:
01. Senjutsu (8:20) (Smith/Harris)
02. Stratego (4:59) (Gers/Harris)
03. The Writing On The Wall (6:13) (Smith/Dickinson)
04. Lost In A Lost World (9:31) (Harris)
05. Days Of Future Past (4:03) (Smith/Dickinson)
06. The Time Machine (7:09) (Gers/Harris)
07. Darkest Hour (7:20) (Smith/Dickinson)
08. Death Of The Celts (10:20) (Harris)
09. The Parchment (12:39) (Harris)
10. Hell On Earth (11:19) (Harris)
“Senjutsu” was released on the following formats and available to order/save at www.ironmaiden.com:
* Standard 2CD Digipak
* Deluxe 2CD Book Format
* Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl
* Special Edition Triple Silver And Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
* Special Edition Triple Red and Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
* Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia
* Digital album [streaming and download]
IRON MAIDEN hadn’t released any fresh music since 2015’s “The Book Of Souls” LP, which was recorded in late 2014 in Paris, France with Shirley.
“The Book Of Souls” was the longest MAIDEN album, clocking in at 92 minutes, with lyrics heavily based in the themes of death, reincarnation, the soul and mortality.
Social media