The Ultimate Rockfest 2025 and 2026 cancelled following dispute with Nestor, Dark Funeral – and a death threat against the organiser

Tomorrow (11 October 2025) was supposed to be the day The Ultimate Rockfest 2025 took place at the Brinova Arena in the Swedish city of Karlskrona. Now, the festival has been cancelled completely. It all began last week when the first bands – including Crucified Barbara and The Gems – were announced for the 2026 edition scheduled for 25 April 2026. At that time, attendees were still waiting for this year’s festival schedule to be published. When the timetable was finally published, co-headliner Nestor and Dark Funeral were suddenly missing from the line-up. While the organisers of The Ultimate Rockfest 2025 stated that both bands “themselves have chosen to cancel their participation via their booking agent”, citing the organisers’ inability to “meet the agreed payment terms with certain bands on time” as “ticket sales this year have not reached the level required”, Nestor contradicted this in a statement. According to the Swedish melodic hard rockers, neither they nor Dark Funeral dropped out but were simply removed “without any explanation”. Shortly afterwards, Dark Funeral issued a very similar statement confirming Nestor‘s version. Yesterday (9 October 2025), the festival was completely cancelled “due to a serious and concrete threat directed at the organiser”:

“This is a post we never thought we would have to write. After consulting with the police, we in the management team have today been forced to make the decision to cancel The Ultimate Rockfest due to a serious and concrete threat directed at the organiser. The safety of everyone involved always comes first – and the decision has therefore been taken by us in management with heavy hearts, but in full respect for the situation we find ourselves in. We also want to be clear that this decision has nothing to do with the earlier changes in the line-up. This is a separate and unforeseen incident that none of us could have influenced. We are also engaged in a legal process connected to the events leading up to this, and therefore ask for understanding that we cannot comment further at this time. In recent times we have unfortunately been subjected to both hatred and personal attacks, and someone has even actively sought out the organiser at home, tried to enter, and left written threats. This has shaken us deeply, and after careful consideration we feel that our safety and security must come first. We also would have preferred if the media had waited to report the news until we ourselves had had the chance to give a comment or explain the situation. That would have given us a chance to respond to the reports and avoid unnecessary speculation about what has happened, as well as adding fuel to the speculation already circulating. […] When everything around the cancellation of the festival has been settled, we will shut down the company. After everything that has happened, we no longer feel it is worth continuing – neither for our own safety nor to bear the pressure of the past few weeks. […] Behind the festival are people – not a logo or a company, but people who have poured all their time, energy and love into creating something for others. Thank you to those who have shown support, understanding and care. It means more than you can imagine. / The team behind The Ultimate Rockfest”

– The Ultimate Rockfest

After this initial statement, Sweden’s national public broadcaster SVT spoke with Community Police Officer Filip Heimfors about the background of the cancellation, but according to him, it was not the police who forced the festival to be cancelled:

“That’s simply not true.”

– Filip Heimfors

The Community Police Officer adds:

“We have not participated in or urged the decision to cancel. That issue has not been discussed at all.”

– Filip Heimfors

According to the police, any such recommendation from the authority would have required a thorough risk assessment based on the threat that organiser Gabi Mattsson reported:

“We would have carried out a careful analysis of the situation before giving any kind of recommendation.”

– Filip Heimfors

A report of a written death threat left on Gabi Mattsson’s car is currently being investigated. The Ultimate Rockfest has since spoken out again and clarified that they themselves – and not the police – decided to cancel the festival. Regarding ticket refunds, The Ultimate Rockfest says that “Everyone who has purchased a ticket is asked to contact Nortic directly”.