Iron Maiden have released an official video recap of Eddfest, the two-day party they threw at Knebworth on July 10 and 11 to mark 50 years of the band. The clip pulls together the weekend that the group built around their only 2026 UK show, turning a single Knebworth date into a full festival built entirely around Iron Maiden and their mascot.
Eddfest — the name is a nod to Eddie, the band’s long-running mascot — was less a normal gig and more a themed world dropped onto the Hertfordshire estate. Fans wandered through Maidenville, an on-site village that housed what the band billed as “the greatest Eddie‘s Dive Bar yet,” a second stage for live music, the “Unfair Funfair” packed with rides and Eddie-themed “Funfair Games,” Eddie‘s Emporium and plenty more scattered across the grounds.
Walking through 50 years of history
The centrepiece for a lot of attendees was “The Infinite Dreams Experience,” a walk-through museum drawn from the band’s “Infinite Dreams” pictorial book. The exhibition let people get right up next to stage props and relics from across the group’s career.
On display were the pharaoh’s head from the “World Slavery Tour,” Eddie‘s ray-gun from 1986’s “Somewhere On Tour,” the The X Factor electric chair, tank commander Eddie from the “A Matter Of Life & Death Tour,” the baphomet from The Number Of The Beast, and the “Phantom Of The Opera” organ that featured on the “Maiden England” tour. There were also personal band keepsakes stretching all the way back to the Paul Di’Anno years.
Longtime Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood said the pieces were pulled together from the band’s archive, warehouses, offices and the members’ own homes to build a one-off look at the group’s past.
“We’ve raided Eddie‘s Archive, Steve‘s [Harris, Iron Maiden bassist and founder] garden and our very own offices, warehouses and homes to bring you some actual pieces of our history,” Smallwood said. “More than 50 items from almost 50 years of history will be on display for tens of thousands of you to see. Try to be there early, because sadly there likely won’t be time for every one of you to take everything in, especially as we have so many other exciting things happening on site. This weekend is for you, our fans. We are trying to do something special and a bit different in celebration of 50 years — a full-on Maiden experience from the moment you arrive on site to the minute you leave. And of course, a very special couple of days for the campers, and I will certainly join them both nights, as I don’t want to miss anything!. So enjoy it, try to get to see and be part of a bit of everything, and I’ll see you in the bar!”
Two stages, two nights
The main stage only ran on Saturday, July 11, when Iron Maiden headlined with their “Run For Your Lives” show. Support that day came from The Hu, The Darkness, The Almighty and Airbourne.
The night before, on Friday, July 10, the spotlight in Maidenville went to Blaze Bayley, who sang for Iron Maiden from 1994 to 1999. He headlined the second stage with a set drawn from his time in the band, leaning on the two albums he cut during that run, The X Factor and Virtual XI.
Part of the bigger picture
The recap arrives with a bit of extra weight behind it. Iron Maiden had planned to build their upcoming “Run For Your Lives” concert film around their June 22 show at Paris La Défense Arena, but a power cut in the city cut that set short and forced the band to drop several songs to make the venue curfew. The group decided to finish the film at Knebworth instead, which means the crowds at Eddfest ended up baked into the movie alongside the Paris footage — one more reason the weekend was always going to be worth documenting.
