Hell & Heaven Metal Fest (H&H, el Hell, or Festival Hell and Heaven) is an open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually during Fall or Spring, near Mexico City in Toluca, located in the State of Mexico, in the central part of the country. With over 30,000 festival visitors,[1] it attracts metal music fans of all subgenres including thrash metal, black metal, death metal, power metal, gothic metal, folk metal, and even metalcore, nu metal, hard rock from all over the world. The festival is mostly attended by a Mexican audience from all around the country, but attracts a large number of visitors from Central and South America, as well as fans from Europe and other parts of the world.
The festival was first held in 2010 as an attempt to create a large scale Metal event for the Latin American community, known for its loyal following to Metal resembling that of European Metal fans. By 2013 word of the event had expanded beyond the region's limits, and has come to include over 60 bands from Europe, Latin America, North America and Australasia. H&H has been held in March and lasts two days, during which the festival-goers camp on large camping grounds surrounding the actual festival area, full amenities, security, first aid, and handicapped access are provided, as well as a VIP lounge tent. Within the limits of the festival, a fair is set up to provide fans with amusement and entertainment rides between performances or to take a break from the ongoing mosh pit. Other visitor activities include: Skatepark, Wrestling matches, cock fights, open restaurants, among others.
Currently the organizers are conceptualizing a regional "festival opening act", as is the case with Wacken's Firefighters at the famous German extreme music festival.
The event continues to attract bigger names in Metal with bands from further distances traveling to perform here. Events of this magnitude have demonstrated to provide economic benefits to the surrounding communities and regional tourism.
After several days of uncertainty, the 2014 festival was definitely canceled[2][3] two days prior to start date. However, it has been announced that a replacement one-day festival will be held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on 25 October 2014.
2010
Hell & Heaven Metal Fest 2010, the first incarnation of the festival, was held on Sunday, 17 October.
The 2020 edition took place on 14 and 15 March, amid concerns for the fast-growing COVID-19 pandemic. The festival was originally scheduled to be held at the Oceania Park in Mexico City, but after the riots that occurred at this same site during the 2019 Knotfest meets Forcefest, the organizers decided to change the location to the Foro Pegaso in Toluca, 45 minutes outside of Mexico City. It also marks the 10th anniversary of the festival.
Cancellations amid COVID-19 occurred both days, but mostly on 15 March. Bands that had to back out included acts such as Megadeth, King Diamond, Cypress Hill, DevilDriver, Death Angel, and Heaven Shall Burn,
The 2022 edition of Hell & Heaven 2022 was confirmed on 3 February 2022, resuming the first headliner that had been planned for the 2021 edition, which will be the American group: Slipknot. On 25 August of the same year, the poster for the 2022 edition was officially announced despite the delays of the festival organizers in which it will take place on 2, 3 and 4 December at Foro Pegaso, Toluca de Lerdo, Toluca, State of Mexico.
