70 Pictures Which Prove That FortaRock’s Spectacular Return Was Worth the Wait

As an old, wise man once said: absence makes the heart grow fonder. This rang particularly true last year for the average Dutch metalhead when it became apparent that the country’s prime metal festival – FortaRock – was undertaking a fallow year in order to regroup following declining ticket sales and a general lack of qualitatively appealing music. Last weekend, the Nijmegen bash celebrated a successful grand return which saw the event downscale and make adjustments which perfectly suited its fresh, intimate style. Parkway Drive and Nightwish served as two of the festival’s main attractions, appearing alongside the likes of Arch Enemy, Avatar, Thy Art is Murder and a handful more. Dewi Mik was present to capture proceedings across each of the festival’s two days at the Goffertpark, and here are 70 of the best shots.

ARCH ENEMY

20180601_archenemy_01 20180601_archenemy_04 20180601_archenemy_05 20180601_archenemy_06 20180601_archenemy_07

KREATOR

20180601_kreator_01 20180601_kreator_03 20180601_kreator_04 20180601_kreator_06

PARKWAY DRIVE

20180601_parkwaydrive_03 20180601_parkwaydrive_04 20180601_parkwaydrive_05 20180601_parkwaydrive_06 20180601_parkwaydrive_07 20180601_parkwaydrive_08 20180601_parkwaydrive_09 20180601_parkwaydrive_10 20180601_parkwaydrive_11

ALESTORM

20180602_alestorm_02 20180602_alestorm_03 20180602_alestorm_04 20180602_alestorm_06 20180602_alestorm_07 20180602_alestorm_08

AVATAR

20180602_avatar_01 20180602_avatar_02 20180602_avatar_03 20180602_avatar_04 20180602_avatar_06 20180602_avatar_08

DOOL

20180602_dool_04 20180602_dool_05 20180602_dool_01 20180602_dool_06

DRAGONFORCE

20180602_dragonforce_03 20180602_dragonforce_05 20180602_dragonforce_06 20180602_dragonforce_04

20180602_tyr_08

FOR I AM KING

20180602_foriamking_01 20180602_foriamking_02 20180602_foriamking_04 20180602_foriamking_05 20180602_foriamking_06 20180602_foriamking_07

NIGHTWISH

20180602_nightwish_01 20180602_nightwish_02 20180602_nightwish_04 20180602_nightwish_05 20180602_nightwish_06 20180602_nightwish_07 20180602_nightwish_08 20180602_nightwish_09 20180602_nightwish_10

OPETH

20180602_opeth_03 20180602_opeth_04 20180602_opeth_06 20180602_opeth_05

THY ART IS MURDER

20180602_thyartismurder_02 20180602_thyartismurder_04 20180602_thyartismurder_05 20180602_thyartismurder_06 20180602_thyartismurder_07 20180602_thyartismurder_08

TYR

20180602_tyr_01 20180602_tyr_03 20180602_tyr_04 20180602_tyr_05 20180602_tyr_06 20180602_tyr_07

FortaRock will return in 2019.