Brisbane’s premier heavy music and dark arts event, the Dead of Winter Festival, is officially rising from the ashes. Dubbed The Resurrection, the festival is locked in for Saturday, 27 June 2026, marking its first return since 2019. Originally launched in 2009, the iconic gathering was forced into a multi-year hiatus following the pandemic.
For its grand comeback, the festival is shifting away from its former home at the Jubilee Hotel to a brand-new venue: the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane’s southern suburbs. The highly anticipated 2026 edition promises a massive celebration of alternative culture, packing 34 live acts across multiple stages alongside performance art, horror cosplay, visual installations, and dark market stalls. Organisers have unleashed a diverse, genre-spanning lineup headlined by dance-punk and noise-rock heroes DZ Deathrays, alongside heavy hitters like Mammal, Toe To Toe, Beanflipper, and Slim Krusty. Tickets are available now via Oztix and the official Dead of Winter Festival Website.
With the festival fast approaching, HEAVY sent out some questions to all of the bands in order to get to know them better. Today, we chat with Helltrippers.
Helltrippers are a high-octane Australian punk and metal rock band based in Brisbane, Queensland. The band formed as a loud side project featuring veteran musicians from established local acts like Fun With Explosives, Cursed Earth, and Eat City. Melding punk, heavy metal, and a no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll attitude, they deliver a fast-paced, high-volume sound described as “rock ‘n’ roll from the highway to hell”.
Q & A
HEAVY: DEAD OF WINTER FESTIVAL returns in 2026 after a seven-year hiatus. Why do you think DOW just HAD to return?
Ateisha (Helltrippers): DOW had to return because it kicks ass, and many bands that have had their chance to perform in front of large crowds was because of this festival. It fills a gap which mostly local bands get to perform at a festival compared to the likes of the now extinct Soundwave or The Big Day Out. It’s a day to get your festival attire on and cruise around where on every stage every band is another mind-blowing local band.
Have you ever been to DOW as a punter or playing? If so, best memories of the day.
Ateisha: I have been to Dead of Winter twice, and one time where Rollo: The King of Punk appeared on stage as the Fairy Bread man during a Dicklord show and fed fairy bread to the crowd, which was glad wrapped to his body, which everyone ripped off his body, and one of them shoved a piece into Elijah’s mouth (Teish and Slije from Aether).
Give me your Top 3 Festival survival tips.
Ateisha: 1. A backpack is most ideal because your bag will get broken in mosh pits.
2. Make sure you have comfy shoes because your feet can get nerve damage for months if you are standing and moshing that long in crappy shoes.
3. Sometimes the only way to get to the front is by crowd surfing.
Which band – other than yourself – do you think will get up to the most mischief on the day?
Ateisha: It’ll either be some band doesn’t get the correct riders or maybe Jodie from Flangipanis later if you catch her streaking.
Run us through your typical live show and what punters can expect.
Ateisha: Helltrippers- just absolute insanity and a wall of noise in a strategic, perfect order of heavy rock ‘n’ roll/hardcore. All just absolute pros from all different bands that you can’t even imagine how cool it would be, they would all get together and jam and then you find out this is exactly what happened.
If you could get one band on the line-up to cover one of your songs, who would it be and what song would they cover?
Ateisha: The DZ Death Rays should cover a Hell Trippers song.
