Slam Dunk Festival promoter Ben Ray has shared his blueprint for the brand’s 2025 “European takeover” in an interview with IQ.

The rock event, which was crowned Festival of the Year at this week’s LIVE Awards, will take place in six markets across one week next May/June, debuting in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as returning to France, Italy and the UK, where the brand launched in 2006.

It is collaborating with partners in each market, apart from the UK, including Live Nation Belgium, Jera Presents (Netherlands), Good News Productions (Switzerland), Opus Live (France) and Hub Music Factory (Italy).

“It’s what we’ve been working towards,” Ray tells IQ. “The first European [spin-offs] were in France and Italy in ’23, but we only did France this year because – and I was very honest about it – we didn’t have the artists to do Italy. And with any of our European editions, if we don’t get the artists, we won’t put on the events.

“This year, we started looking at more markets but were determined to do both France and Italy. I had to know that France and Italy were done before I looked at anything else, because I wanted to deliver with my existing partners first.

“Luckily, in the cases of Netherlands and Switzerland, I’d been talking to those people for a long time and we’d said we’d do something if the opportunity arose.”

“Neck Deep are the only band playing all seven events”

Slam Dunk 2025 will kick off with its flagship, 30,000-cap UK editions at Hatfield Park on 24 May and Temple Newsam in Leeds on 25 May, headlined by A Day To Remember, Electric Callboy and Neck Deep, before making its way across the continent.

“Months ago, I told the artists that were flying over from the US for Slam Dunk UK that we were trying to add some European options for afterwards,” explains Ray. Thankfully, many of those bands have decided to come and join us and go into Europe. A Day To Remember are also headlining in France and Italy, and The Used, Newfound Glory and Neck Deep are the main three bands doing the majority of the shows.

“Switzerland is New Found Glory and Neck Deep, and then Netherlands and Belgium is The Used and Neck Deep, so it’s all rotating. Neck Deep are the only band playing all seven events.”

The inaugural Slam Dunk Belgium (cap. 2,000) is set for 27 May at Trix, Antwerp, with the first Slam Dunk Netherlands to follow 29 May at Tivola Ronda in Utrecht.

Slam Dunk France (cap. 5,000) will take place Lyon’s L’Amphitheatre 3000 on 31, with Slam Dunk Switzerland (cap. 2,000) to debut at Zurich’s Komplex 457 on 1 June. Slam Dunk Italy (cap. 10,000) will then bring proceedings to a close at a new venue – Milan’s Carroponte – on 2 June.

“Ultimately, it’s getting the brand out there into Europe and hopefully putting a benchmark down in those territories”

“The [Belgium/Netherlands Switzerland events] are in club venues,” notes Ray. “It’s a touring package rather than a [traditional] festival. But ultimately, it’s getting the brand out there into Europe and hopefully putting a benchmark down in those territories.

“Everything’s an experiment,” he continues. “The idea is to grow in each market and build the brand in each country, and then we hope to do bigger venues in those countries – and I suppose more countries – in the future.”

Past lineups at the pop-punk, emo, metal, and alternative have included the likes of Paramore, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, Enter Shikari, Jimmy Eat World, Don Broco, Sum 41 and NOFX. And in closing, Ray is cautiously optimistic the rollout will be a hit.

“We look at ticket data from the UK events and we know we get a lot of customers coming from Europe,” finishes Ray. “There is brand awareness all across Europe – even in territories we’re not in – and on top of targeted campaigns in each country, we’re running a very large overall campaign advertising the events together across Europe, again, trying to grow the brand.

“A big target for us is sponsorship: we believe that the more markets we’re in, the more attractive it looks to potential sponsors, so hopefully that will grow over the years as well.”

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Slam Dunk Festival is expanding to Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland as part of its “European takeover” in 2025.

The one-day pop-punk, emo, metal and ska-themed festival, which launched in the UK in 2006 before adding stops in France and Italy over the past couple of years, will take place in six markets across one week next May/June.

Slam Dunk 2025 will kick off with its 30,000-cap UK editions at Hatfield Park on 24 May and Leeds, Temple Newsam on 25 May, before making its way across the continent.

A link-up with Live Nation Belgium, the first Slam Dunk Belgium is set for 27 May at Trix, Antwerp, with a bill including The Used, Neck Deep and Zebrahead.

Another new addition in partnership with Jera Presents, Slam Dunk Netherlands will debut on 29 May at Tivola Ronda in Utrecht, featuring Neck Deep, The Used, Zebrahead, The Ataris and March.

Across the border, Slam Dunk hits France on 31 May at Lyon’s L’Amphitheatre 3000, topped by A Day To Remember, Landmvrks, The Used, New Found Glory, Neck Deep and Zebrahead.

The Slam Dunk takeover will come to a close in Italy at Milan’s Carroponte on 2 June

The first Slam Dunk Switzerland will then land at Zurich’s Komplex 457 on 1 June, starring acts such as New Found Glory, Neck Deep, Zebrahead and The Ataris.

The takeover will come to a close in Italy at Milan’s Carroponte on 2 June. Bands confirmed so far include A Day To Remember, New Found Glory, The Used, Landmvrks, Neck Deep, The Ataris and Zebrahead.

Slam Dunk’s previously announced UK bill, meanwhile, will be headlined by A Day To Remember, Electric Callboy and Neck Deep topping the bill. Past lineups have included the likes of Paramore, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, Enter Shikari, Jimmy Eat World, Don Broco, Sum 41 and NOFX.

Promoter Ben Ray discussed the potential for future expansion of the brand in an interview with IQ earlier this year.

“We are looking at other European markets, but we’re not pushing it,” he said. “We started Slam Dunk in 2006 and it took us a long time to get to where we are in the UK. We’ve changed cities, we’ve changed sites, we’ve change formats and we’ve built slowly. We’ve never tried to take on too much, which is very important.”

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Slam Dunk Festival promoter Ben Ray has run the rule over the brand’s recent UK edition and European expansion in an interview with IQ.

The UK festival took place across two sites last weekend, with the southern leg held at Hatfield Park on 25 May and a northern leg in Temple Newsam, Leeds, the following day.

Artists at the 30,000-cap pop-punk, emo, metal, and alternative event included You Me at Six, I Prevail, The All-American Rejects, Funeral for a Friend, Boys Like Girls, Asking Alexandria, State Champs, Mallory Knox, The Ghost Inside and The Interrupters.

But while the Hatfield leg went to plan, the Leeds site was hit by heavy rainfall ahead of the show, prompting organisers to issue an emergency weather update and close the event’s car park.

“Hatfield was amazing,” says Ray. “We were faced with a few challenges last year and worked very hard to resolve those, and the fact that Hatfield ran so smoothly was testament to all the effort we put in. But towards the end of the day, we were made more and more aware of the state of the site in Leeds, so everything that worked so well in Hatfield turned into worry about the next day.

“Ultimately, the event happened. The only issue that we faced was around car parks – we knew there would be a very high risk that some people wouldn’t be able to get out – so we advised them to park in the city centre and get onward travel to the site via the shuttle buses, and we scrambled around and managed to get more shuttle buses on to transport people across.

“The main complaint was the length of time that it took to get shuttle buses at the end of the day. It may have been a little longer than people wanted, but it was still within a reasonable amount of time, so it was the right decision to take and the vast majority of the fans were happy with that.”

“Although these numbers would have been a massive success for us in previous years, we’ve not done great financially because of the rising costs”

While Slam Dunk UK sold out for the first time last year, attendance for the 2024 festivals dipped to around 20,000 per day. Ray believes the economic climate was the driving factor in the decline.

“There was talk last year of a cost of living crisis, but at that point we’d sold out, so it wasn’t affecting the festival market,” he notes. “Although people were having to make cutbacks in daily life, I think they still had the desire to have something fun to look forward to over the summer.

“This year, we really started to feel the effect of the cost of living crisis. Our sales weren’t as good as last year, but that was the first year we’d sold out and we knew we weren’t going to sell out again. But we sold over 20,000 tickets for both sites – so over 40,000 in total – which would have been a good year for us before last year.

“Like all festivals, we’ve seen a massive increase in production costs now, and unfortunately a lot of those came in after we had gone on sale and had set our ticket price, so we didn’t pass a lot of the increased costs on to the customers. So although these numbers would have been a massive success for us in previous years, we’ve not done great financially because of the rising costs.”

Another challenge centred on booking the bill due to the logistics not adding up for certain top-tier acts – particularly those from the other side of the pond.

“The genres that Slam Dunk feature are quite US-heavy, and there were a lot of US artists that chose not to tour because it would have been so expensive to come over,” explains Ray. “We were paying artists a lot more money than we had previously and that was not them being greedy; it was their agents or management coming back to us and saying, ‘This is what we’ll need to cover our costs because they have gone up so much.’

“Some, obviously, did come over and play. Others, we couldn’t get because it was either too expensive for them to come over, or they were going to stay in the US and tour in that period because it was more financially viable.”

“We are looking at other European markets, but we’re not pushing it”

Ray also gives an update on Slam Dunk’s ambitions outside the UK, where the brand launched in 2006, following its debut in France and Italy in June 2023.

Promoted in partnership with AEG France and French Independent promoter Opus Live, Slam Dunk France premiered in Lyon, topped by The Offspring, Simple Plan, Billy Talent, Zebrahead and Oakman. Slam Dunk Italy, meanwhile, was a co-promotion with booking agency Hub Music Factory and was held in Rimini on the Adriatic coast, close to Milan, headlined by Rancid, The Offspring and Sum 41.

“They were massive successes,” reports Ray. “We got very lucky in the fact they were the week after the UK, so we were able to repeat a lot of the lineup. France was a one-day indoor event at Halle Tony Garnier, which I would describe as similar to Ally Pally. That was one stage and 16,000-capacity, and we did over 13,000 for our first event.

“At the same time, we had Slam Dunk Italy, which was outdoors in a seaside resort just outside of Rimini, and that took place over two stages, one of which was actually on the beach, over three days. It was 10,000 capacity, and we sold close to that each day.”

Slam Dunk France will return on 22 June with the likes of Sum 41, The Interrupters and Palaye Royale, but there will be no Italian edition in 2024.

“Very honestly, we couldn’t get the headliners and I didn’t want to feel the pressure of doing the event every year without fail, no matter what bill we could get,” says Ray. “We made the choice to skip a year and not have the worry, but we are planning to [stage Slam Dunk Italy] again in 2025.”

And Ray is keeping an open mind regarding the prospect of further additions to the Slam Dunk portfolio in the future.

“We are looking at other European markets, but we’re not pushing it,” he adds. “We started Slam Dunk in 2006 and it took us a long time to get to where we are in the UK. We’ve changed cities, we’ve changed sites, we’ve change formats and we’ve built slowly. We’ve never tried to take on too much, which is very important.”

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The UK’s Slam Dunk Festival has confirmed it is expanding into Europe with two new rock events launching under the banner in France and Italy next summer.

Slam Dunk France will be a 15,000-cap one day, one stage indoor event taking place at Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon on Friday 2 June 2023. Headlined by The Offspring, the inaugural French edition will also feature Simple Plan, Billy Talent, Zebrahead and Oakman.

Slam Dunk Italy, meanwhile, will be held over two days across two stages from 2-3 June on the beach in Rimini at Bellaria Igea Marina (Parco Pavese and Beky Bay), on the Adriatic coast close to Milan.

The 10,000-cap outdoor event will also offer camping and hotel packages across the weekend. Acts announced so far are headliners Rancid and The Offspring, plus Enter Shikari, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup, Billy Talent, Anti Flag, Less Than Jake, Trash Boat, and Destroy Boys.

“We hope to add more countries in the future so watch this space”

Slam Dunk France is being promoted in partnership with French Independent promoter Opus Live along with AEG France, while the Italian edition is a co-promotion with local booking agency Hub Music Factory.

“I’m so happy as an independent festival to be able to expand in Europe with help from some great local partners who share the vision of the festival,” says Slam Dunk festival director Ben Ray, who founded the event in the UK in 2006. “We hope to add more countries in the future so watch this space.”

The UK edition of Slam Dunk will be held across two sites – Hatfield Park on 27 May and a northern leg in Temple Newsam, Leeds on 28 May. Artists will include The Offspring, Enter Shikari, Billy Talent, Bowling for Soup, Yellow Card, Less than Jake, Kids in Glass Houses, Underoath, Flogging Molly, Creeper and The Hunna, among others.

The French spin-off was originally set to launch in May 2020 at La Cigale & La Boule Noire, Paris, before being cancelled due to the pandemic.

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