Boardwalk Rock is coming back to Ocean City, Maryland, May 14–16, 2027, with a three-day lineup topped by Korn on Friday, Bad Omens on Saturday and Iron Maiden on Sunday. The oceanfront festival, staged on the beach and along the town’s famous boardwalk, returns after sitting out 2026 and expands from two days to three compared with its debut.
Friday pairs Korn with Breaking Benjamin, The Prodigy, Cypress Hill, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Clutch, Sevendust, Theory of a Deadman, Filter, All Them Witches, Corrosion of Conformity, Eve 6, Local H, Nonpoint and Soil. Saturday, behind Bad Omens, brings Good Charlotte, Marilyn Manson, Motionless in White, Bullet for My Valentine, Poppy, Tesla, Superheaven, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool, Sponge, Showing Teeth, Tetrarch and Asava.
Sunday puts Iron Maiden alongside Alice in Chains and Judas Priest, plus Sleeping with Sirens, The Pretty Reckless, Down, The Warning, Loathe, The HU, Apocalyptica, GWAR, Dirty Honey, The Flys and Mac Sabbath. That puts two cornerstones of British heavy metal on the same bill as the Seattle band built around Jerry Cantrell‘s riffs and, originally, Layne Staley‘s voice. The same day features The Warning, the trio of sisters from Monterrey, Mexico.
For Iron Maiden, Ocean City is the final stop of the North American leg of ‘Run For Your Lives’, the band’s 50th-anniversary tour. Last week the group announced 16 spring 2027 dates, running from April 14 at the Tacoma Dome to May 16 at Boardwalk Rock, two days after headlining Sonic Temple in Columbus, Ohio, with stops in Vancouver, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta and Hartford along the way. “We can’t get everywhere but we can try!” said bassist Steve Harris, who noted that the band had planned to take a break from live performances in 2027 but wanted to experience “a couple more” festivals in the U.S. Bullet for My Valentine, who play Saturday in Ocean City, will support on the band’s own headline shows on that run, along with The Raven Age, making it an all-British bill. The Welsh band will release its new album, ‘Social Apocalypse’, on March 19, 2027.
Boardwalk Rock debuted May 17–18, 2025, as a sellout, with three stages — two on the beach and one on the boardwalk near the Inlet — and headliners including Def Leppard, Shinedown and Nickelback. Alice in Chains were also booked for that first edition but were replaced by Rob Zombie. The festival is produced by C3 Presents, a Live Nation company. In November 2025, the Town of Ocean City confirmed it would not return in 2026, citing “a variety of challenges,” and said it was “fully committed to working with C3 Presents to bring the festival back stronger than ever in 2027.” Tom Perlozzo, the town’s director of tourism and business development, told local station WBOC the pause was a financial and logistical decision, “not safety related,” after the festival lost “a couple of headliners” and the promoter wasn’t comfortable with the uncertainty. Acts at that level are booked roughly 20 months out.
The presale opens Thursday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m. ET, with the lowest-priced general admission tickets available only during the first hour. Fans can sign up for the presale passcode at boardwalkrockfest.com. Prices have not been announced.
Lineup by day
- Friday, May 14: Korn, Breaking Benjamin, The Prodigy, Cypress Hill, Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Clutch, Sevendust, Theory of a Deadman, Filter, All Them Witches, Corrosion of Conformity, Eve 6, Local H, Nonpoint, Soil
- Saturday, May 15: Bad Omens, Good Charlotte, Marilyn Manson, Motionless in White, Bullet for My Valentine, Poppy, Tesla, Superheaven, Buckcherry, Drowning Pool, Sponge, Showing Teeth, Tetrarch, Asava
- Sunday, May 16: Iron Maiden, Alice in Chains, Judas Priest, Sleeping with Sirens, The Pretty Reckless, Down, The Warning, Loathe, The HU, Apocalyptica, GWAR, Dirty Honey, The Flys, Mac Sabbath
