The 2024 edition of Prophecy Fest kicks off tomorrow, September 5th, in the legendary Balve Cave in Germany. Already a tradition for the fans of the Prophecy Productions roaster, there are numerous surprises ready for guests.
From the end of August, the festival is officially sold out. Martin Koller comments: “We thank all our friends that have supported Prophecy Fest by buying their passes early from the bottom of our hearts”, the founder of Prophecy Productions and Prophecy Fest enthuses. “Some have even gotten their passes all the way back to the last fest with only a few bands announced. We very much appreciate this show of trust and do our very best to set up an excellent programme. It seems that we have succeeded. As an offer to our loyal guests, we will make it possible again to purchase passes for 2025 in advance at this year’s event. We are very much looking forward to see you all in Balve in only a few days!”
Daily schedule
Thursday
The festival starts with the popular outdoor celebration on Thursday, September 5th. Dubbed the Prophetic Overture, it will offer a joyful gathering with mostly acoustic music around barbecue fires as well as the popular welcome drink.
The musical part of Thursday’s festivities presents unique performances. The early highlights assembled for the Prophetic Overture include a dark ambient set of Californian electronic music innovators Thief, German neofolk transforming act Vrîmuot, pagan Anglo-Saxon guests Wolcensmen, Dutch crowd favourite Thurnin, and the dark folk collective Neun Welten returning to Balve. See the full schedule below:
Friday
On the first day in the cave, you can expect to see legends such as Arthur Brown and Triptykon, underground darlings In The Woods… or experiment new horizons with Thief.
Saturday
The second day of the festival starts out heavy, so make sure you are there from the begining as Prophecy Productions veterans Empyrium kick off the day, followed up by Alcest with their special acoustic set featuring the French composer Nicolas Horvath. The day will be full of unique performances, featuring Hexvessel, Austere, Paradise Lost and more: take a look at the timetable below to not miss a thing.
Special beers and merch
Prophecy Fest and Landbrauerei Tobias Mohrmann have decided to continue their collaboration. The local craft beer brewery will again provide the ‘Willkommentrunk’ (“welcome drink”) on Thursday. Not only that, but this year, master brewer Tobias Mohrmann has a special plan: one of the beers will be brewed for Prophecy Fest from one of his recipes and the other one will be brewed following the instructions of Empyrium and The Vision Bleak mastermind Markus Stock.
Moreover, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Where at night the wood grouse plays, the album which Empyrium will play in its entirety this coming Saturday, the band will come with a special batch of merch:
How to get there
Prophecy Fest is held annually in the Balver Kulturhöhle (“Balve culture cave”) near the town of Balve in the Sauerland region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The closest airports are Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt and Hannover.
For more detailed information on accommodation, travel, and parking please consult the Prophecy Fest page.
See you in the cave!
