# List of gothic festivals

The following is an incomplete list of gothic festivals, which encapsulates music festivals focused on gothic music. Goth festivals may feature genres such as gothic rock and gothic metal, as well as industrial music. The festivals also tend to feature aspects of the Goth subculture, such as fans and bands in goth fashion. Goth is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late-1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes. The genre itself was defined as a separate movement from post-punk due to its darker music accompanied by introspective and romantic lyrics. Gothic rock then gave rise to a broader subculture that included clubs, fashion and publications in the 1980s.

## Festivals

| Name | Years active | Location | Notes |
| Wave-Gotik-Treffen | 1987–present | Leipzig, Germany | One of the largest Gothic festivals in the world. A four-day event covering most of the city of Leipzig, Germany. |
| Annual Gothic Cruise | 1989–present | Florida, with one offs | This yearly weeklong event featuring bands across the many subcultures of the goth genre. Onboard dj parties & private events throughout the event. Must be 18 or over to attend private events. Food, drinks, and cabins included in base pricing. |
| Whitby Goth Weekend | 1994– present | Whitby, North Yorkshire, England | Twice-yearly goth music festival. |
| Castle Party | 1994–present | Poland | Above the town Bolków stand the ruins of Bolków Castle, built in the 13th century. Devastated in the Thirty Years' War it became a property of Grüssau Abbey in 1703, though restoration efforts did not begin until 1905. Since 1997 the ruin is the site of the annual "Castle Party" Gothic rock festival. First three editions were on Grodziec Castle. |
| Convergence | 1995–present | North America | Annual net.goth party run by and for members of the alt.gothic and alt.gothic.fashion newsgroup, and other related Usenet newsgroups. Events at Convergence typically included live bands and club nights, bazaars, fashion, art shows, panels, and tours of goth-themed locales in the host city. In recent years, however, the festival aspects of this event have been stripped away leaving the event transformed into a meet-up for old friends from past Convergences to get-together. |
| Dark Storm Festival | 1997–present | Germany | One day festival on Christmas Day, city hall of Chemnitz. |
| Infest | 1998–present | Bradford, England | An annual festival featuring a mixture of electronic, industrial and gothic music. The festival features club/DJ events, live concerts from established international artists & new bands to the scene, both clothes & music stalls. |
| M'era Luna Festival | 2000–present | Germany | A festival of goth, metal and industrial music. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Germany. |
| Children of Night: Black Soviet | 2000–present | Ukraine | A festival of goth, metal and industrial music. The largest on Ukraine and in the CIS festival of gothic/dark/electro music and art. Now a journey on a festival became annual tradition of admirers of gothic/dark/electro aesthetics from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and other former Soviet Union countries. Annually passes in September in Kyiv, Ukraine. |
| Lumous Gothic Festival | 2001–2020 | Finland | Commonly known as Lumous, was the largest festival dedicated to the goth subculture in Finland and the northernmost Gothic festival in the world. covering musical genres such as gothic rock, deathrock, industrial, EBM and neofolk. |
| Reverence | 2003–2009 | Madison, United States | An electronic music festival. Featuring primarily aggrotech, electro-industrial and synthpop bands, it has also included other electronic dance music genres as well. |
| Summer Darkness | 2003–2013 | Utrecht, Netherlands | Acts perform in various clubs throughout the city of Utrecht. The festival was a joint venture by Cybercase, Tivoli (Utrecht), EKKO and Mojo until EKKO made the decision in 2009 to quit. |
| Eccentrik | 2004–2009 | Raleigh, United States | A three-day industrial and goth music festival. Started in October 2004, Eccentrik features various musical styles including deathrock, gothabilly, industrial, gothic rock, psychobilly, post-punk, synthpop and other related genres. |
| Lima Gothic Wave Festival | 2004–present | Lima, Peru | An event that brings together the Peruvian and Latin American Gothic subculture. |
| Amphi Festival | 2005–present | Germany | A two-day festival of dark music. It is held annually on the third weekend of July, in Cologne, Germany. |
| Blacksun Festival | 2005–2007 | New Haven, United States | Was created in 2005 is a three-day industrial and goth music international festival. |
| Prague Gothic Treffen | 2006–present | Prague, Czech Republic | Two-day festival of goth rock, EBM, darkwave, coldwave, synth and postpunk, DJs and picnic based in Prague clubs. PGT is held by a local goth webzine. |
| Darkland Fire | 2008–present | Rakvere, Estonia | The Neofolk/Dark folk /Industrial Music Festival DARKLAND FIRE. |
| Sinner's Day festival | 2009–present | Belgium | Sinner's Day festival is one of Europe's New Wave/EBM/Goth festivals and consists of both a Summer and a Winter edition. The Summer edition is held annually during the last weekend of June in Ostend, Belgium, the Winter edition is held annually during the last weekend of October, Belgium. https://sinnersday.com/ |
| Dark Bombastic Evening | 2009–2022 | Romania | Was a festival spanning several days in Ryma, Alba Iulia, Romania. |
| Extramuralhas | 2010–present | Portugal | It's Portugal's biggest goth and industrial music festival. It is held annually on the last weekend of every August, in Leiria, Portugal. It used to be called Entremuralhas until 2018. |
| Castrum Nigra | 2011–present | Brodenbach, Germany | One day festival within the complete castle Ehrenburg (Brodenbach) featuring a mixture of electronic, industrial and gothic music. The festival features DJ and club events, artists and performances. |
| Dark Munich Festival | 2012–2015 | Munich, Germany | Used to be a gothic festival in Munich, but is now bankrupt. |
| Runes & Men | 2012–2016 | Leipzig, Germany | Two day neofolk festival. |
| San La Muerte Festival | 2012, 2015–2023 | Austin, United States | Was a Texas-based music festival for goth, deathrock, and dark punk musicians from across the world. |
| Alt-Fest | 2014 | England | A crowd-sourced alternative music and lifestyle festival, intended to run from 2014 onwards at Boughton Estate, Kettering, England. The inaugural festival promised six stages and 180 bands, but instead, the event was cancelled due to lack of funding, with the controlling company consequently going into liquidation. |
| Autumn Moon Festival | 2015–present | Hamelin, Germany | Two day Gothic festival in October. |
| SPECIES | 2015–2022 | County Leitrim, Ireland | Annual Gothic arts and culture gathering, a grass roots collaborative festival run by its creative contributors. Music from a diverse array of Ireland's dark, Gothic and Industrial DJs with live bands and Performances, Gothic Décor, Art Installations, Live painting, Gothic market and camping over a span of two nights and three days. |
| Goth City | 2016–2023 | Leeds, England | A Leeds-based Goth festival over two weeks from 11 – 26 November. |
| Subkultfestivalen | 2016–present | Trollhättan, Sweden | Two-day culture festival with a focus on subcultures like goth, synth, postpunk, indie, metal, punk, emo, lolita, industrial & electronica. |
| Gothic Dark Wave Festival | 2017 | Tilloloy Castle, France | A two-day festival with 22 bands, at a castle in the north of France. It took place on 19 and 20 August 2017. The festival is unlikely to have a second edition. |
| Darkside of Belgrade | 2017–present | Belgrade, Serbia | One day festival featuring a mixture of electronic, industrial and gothic music. The festival features club/DJ events,live bands and performances |
| Deepland Festival | 2017–present | São Paulo, Brazil | Goth music event held by Brazilian alternative record label Deepland Records. |
| Dark Malta Festival | 2018–present | Gianpula, Malta | Two-day festival featuring a mixture of EBM, industrial, gothic & Metal music. The festival features live bands, dj- & club-events. |
| The Unconvention | 2021–2023 | New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia Area, United States | The Unconvention was a 3-day festival. Iselin, NJ. |
| Soul Noir:Festival of the Dark Arts | 2017–2024 | Dublin, Ireland | A Dublin based festival founded to celebrate all things Gothic, underground and macabre. Our aim is to promote Irish and international artists who work with these themes in their practice. |

## Gallery

* Fans at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in 2004
* Apocalyptica
* Castle Party 2007
* Castle Party 2007
* Location Species Festival, Leitrim, Ireland
* Control Freak at Species 2016, Ireland
* Kraven Brainz live at Species 2016, Leitrim, Ireland
* Felin, performing at Subkultfestivalen 2019
* Michael Garcia of The Reptile House performing at The Menagerie's 2nd annual World Goth Festival on the USS Hornet. Alameda, CA 2022.