Bongert Open Air

From 150 to 1,500 Visitors

Bongert Open Air is the growth story of a club idea: founded in 2014 as "Rock by Markus" with 150 visitors, the festival expanded to two days in 2019 and, after the Corona break in 2020/2021, to four days. Today, it attracts around 1,500 metal fans from all over NRW, the Benelux countries, and beyond to the Dutch border. The organizer since the club's founding has been Bongert Musikkultur e.V., which consciously cultivates the festival's character as a "family festival" for the metal community.

Metal in Full Breadth

The program features Hard Rock, Death Metal, Metalcore, Heavy Metal, and Pagan/Folk Metal – a clear commitment to the entire spectrum of the genre. In 2026, the lineup includes the Swiss band Burning Witches (classic Heavy Metal), the German band Obscurity (Melodic Death Metal, founded in 1997), the Pagan/Folk band Vanaheim from the Netherlands, Wolfchant (Pagan Metal from Germany), and Mister Misery (Melodic Metal from Sweden).

Program Overview

• Burning Witches (CH) — Heavy Metal Headliner
• Mister Misery (SE) — Melodic Metal from Stockholm
• Obscurity (DE) — Melodic Death Metal since 1997
• Vanaheim (NL) — Pagan/Folk Metal
• Wolfchant (DE) — Pagan Metal
• Rezet (DE) — Thrash Metal
• Velvet Rush — Hard Rock / classic Rock with psychedelic elements
• Dymytry Paradox — Metal side project with its own sound
• Snakebite — Hard Rock / Melodic Heavy Metal (return after 2019)

Brüggen on the Lower Rhine

Brüggen is located in the Viersen district, right on the Dutch border. With around 16,000 inhabitants, the municipality is manageable but easily accessible for metal fans from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The Bongert grounds at Alst 122 offer the open natural setting where an open-air festival best comes into its own: forest atmosphere, a large meadow, several stages — typical Lower Rhine.