Keep Children Rockin's Dead of Winter Fest 2026 Announces 11th Annual Heavy Metal Benefit for Youth Music Programs
Four Headliners, Two Stages, 19 Bands On Saturday, February 21st, 2026
Dead of Winter Fest 2026 Announces 11th Annual Heavy Metal Benefit for Youth Music Programs With Four Headliners, Two Stages, 19 Bands On Saturday, February 21st, 2026
Phoenix, Az, Feb. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keep Children Rockin proudly announces the 11th Annual Dead of Winter Fest 2026, a one-day, all-ages heavy metal benefit festival taking place Saturday, February 21, 2026, at Mill of Madness in Phoenix, Arizona. The event runs 2:00 PM to Midnight, featuring 19 bands rotating between an indoor and outdoor stage, with tickets priced at $25. All proceeds directly support music equipment and repair donations for youth music programs across Arizona.
Dead of Winter Fest 2026 Main Flyer
The Dead of Winter Fest (DOWF) remains the primary annual fundraising engine for Keep Children Rockin, an Arizona-based nonprofit dedicated to restoring access to functional music education in elementary schools & other youth music programs through direct equipment and repair support.
Dead of Winter Fest 2026 is anchored by four official headliners representing multiple regions and heavy music styles:
Rattlesnake Suitcase - Outdoor Prime Headliner (10:00 PM)
Reog - Outdoor Closing Headliner (11:15 PM) - California
Suicide Forest - Indoor Prime Headliner (9:30 PM) - Tucson, AZ | DOWF Veteran
Withermoon - Indoor Closing Headliner (10:45 PM) - California
Outdoor Stage
Faultline - 2:00 PM (Youth Opener - DOWF Debut)
Painting Fences - 3:00 PM
Postmodern Society - 4:00 PM
Dumasikis - 5:00 PM
Flesh Prison - 6:00 PM
Gasping - 7:00 PM (DOWF Veteran)
Dead World Reclamation - 8:00 PM (DOWF Veteran)
Varkan - 9:00 PM (DOWF Veteran)
Rattlesnake Suitcase - 10:00 PM (Headliner)
Reog - 11:15 PM (Headliner | California)
Indoor Stage
Vipera - 2:30 PM (Youth Opener - DOWF Debut)
Vacendak - 3:30 PM
Internal Descent - 4:30 PM
Tides - 5:30 PM
Lethean - 6:30 PM (DOWF Veteran | Tucson)
Evasion - 7:30 PM (DOWF Veteran | Tucson)
Hell Throne - 8:30 PM (DOWF Veteran)
Suicide Forest - 9:30 PM (Headliner | DOWF Veteran | Tucson)
Withermoon - 10:45 PM (Headliner | California)
For the first time in Dead of Winter Fest history, both stages will open with youth-driven bands: Faultline (Outdoor Stage) & Vipera (Indoor Stage). Both acts make their DOWF debut and have previously participated in programming connected to Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock, marking a milestone moment where the next generation of artists opens the very stages that fund future youth music programs.
Returning Dead of Winter Fest veterans who have previously performed at the festival include: Gasping, Dead World Reclamation, Varkan, Lethean, Evasion, Hell Throne, and Suicide Forest.
Strong regional representation includes: Lethean, Evasion, Suicide Forest & Reog [California], Withermoon [California].
This balance of long-running alumni, next-generation artists, and out-of-state talent continues to establish The Dead of Winter Fest as a growing Southwest destination metal festival with a charitable core.
Tickets: $25
All-Ages Event (21+ with valid ID to consume alcohol)
Presale Info: Ticketing is available on the official website
RSVP & Presale Tickets: https://deadofwinterfest.com/
Dead of Winter Fest 2026 is proudly supported by:
Mill of Madness - Venue Sponsor
Mattstache Productions - Promotional Sponsor
Extreme Metal Scene - Video Sponsor
Savage Photographix - Photography Sponsor
After12 - Supporting Sponsor
“The Dead Of Winter Fest has always been about turning heavy metal music into real-world impact. Eleven years in, we are still using this event to put instruments back into classrooms and give students access to music education that would otherwise disappear.” — Paul Sokol, Founder & Spokesperson, Keep Children Rockin
Keep Children Rockin is an Arizona-based 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing music equipment and repair donations to youth music programs, with a strong focus on Title I elementary school education. Through the Dead of Winter Fest, Keep Children Rockin channels the power of the heavy metal community into tangible support for the next generation of musicians.
Paul Sokol
Founder & Spokesperson - Keep Children Rockin
paul@keepchildrenrockin.org
941-322-7221
Dead of Winter Fest 2026 Main Flyer
About Keep Children Rockin
Keep Children Rockin is an Arizona-based nonprofit founded on the belief that access to music education changes lives, strengthens communities, and gives young people a voice when they need it most. Through direct donations of musical instruments, professional repairs, and ongoing support, the organization equips youth music programs with the tools required to teach, inspire, and endure. Its flagship fundraising event, The Dead of Winter Fest, is an annual heavy metal festival that channels the passion, energy, and camaraderie of the metal community into measurable impact for local schools and youth organizations. By uniting artists, fans, sponsors, and volunteers around a shared mission, Keep Children Rockin and The Dead of Winter Fest prove that heavy music can deliver real-world good, transforming volume into value and turning a day of live music into lasting opportunity for the next generation.
Press Inquiries
Paul Sokol
paul@keepchildrenrockin.org
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