There are plenty of festivals on the UK calendar, but every now and then you come across one that immediately makes you wonder how it hasn’t been on your radar sooner.
For me, Quest Fest was one of those.
As a massive power metal fan, a UK festival built around power, heavy and progressive metal was always going to get my attention. But the more I looked into Quest Fest, the more I realised there was much more going on than simply putting a collection of bands on a stage for the day.
Gaming, tabletop RPGs, fantasy, independent bands, international artists that don’t often make it to the UK and, perhaps most importantly, an attempt to build an actual community around a scene that doesn’t always get the same attention here as other corners of metal.
That made Quest Fest something I wanted Dead Centre Media to get involved with.
I originally reached out to the festival simply to introduce DCM and ask to be kept up to date with their latest news and announcements. Instead, I ended up speaking with festival organiser Amie Chatterley, who very kindly invited us to come along and cover this year’s event.
Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
I’m away on tour when Quest Fest takes place this year, and after checking with one of our photographers to see if we could still make coverage happen, he was unavailable too.
As someone who genuinely loves power metal, saying no to an invitation to cover an entire festival dedicated to it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable email to send.
But while we can’t physically be there this time around, the conversation with Amie gave us an opportunity to find out much more about the festival itself – and it turns out there’s quite a story behind it.
Quest Fest wasn’t born from a huge business plan or an ambition to create a 2,000-capacity festival.
In fact, the first Power Metal Quest Fest in 2017 wasn’t even supposed to have a sequel.
What began as a response to the lack of opportunities for UK power metal bands has since developed into an independent, completely not-for-profit festival bringing together established international names, emerging artists and a growing fantasy and gaming experience.
It has survived the realities of bringing international bands into the UK, rising touring costs, venue limitations and even a point where Amie considered bringing the festival to an end altogether.
Instead, Quest Fest found a new home at KK’s Steel Mill, increased its capacity to 2,000 and finally gained the space to introduce something its organisers had wanted to explore for years – gaming.
Now the festival has its own Gaming Dungeon, tabletop elements and even the beginnings of its own TTRPG adventures.
And yet, underneath all of that, the original reason for Quest Fest remains: supporting power metal and helping build a stronger scene for it here in the UK.
So, ahead of this year’s Quest Fest, Dead Centre Media spoke with Amie about how a one-off Sunday show became what it is today, the reality of running an independent festival, finding the right bands, the crossover between metal and gaming, and just how ambitious she’d be willing to get if somebody happened to have the phone number of a member of Lost Horizon…
FROM A ONE-OFF SHOW TO QUEST FEST
Quest Fest started as Power Metal Quest Fest back in 2017. Looking back at that first event compared with where the festival is now, how has your original vision for Quest Fest changed?
Amie: Absolutely has it changed! That first show was supposed to be a one-off. In fact, I wasn’t even sure people would turn up to such a niche show on a Sunday, but it sold out and I couldn’t believe it!
It was, and is still to this day, the fans that turned up that encouraged me to continue the festival.
I had brief plans to expand to an outdoor fest and maybe that’s something I consider down the line, but I really love being able to support independent venues and they are perfect for creating intimate community vibes.
Currently, we’ve grown into a more fantasy-themed festival that incorporates power, heavy and prog and now has that gaming element, and I’m really loving the crossover between metal and gaming.
Power metal has a really dedicated following in the UK, but there aren’t many festivals here specifically catering to it. What made you decide that this was the scene you wanted to build a festival around?
Amie: This came about because the prog-power band I’m in, Dakesis, was often put on extreme metal bills. And hey, I absolutely love extreme metal, I’m in a death metal band that means the world to me, but we were always billed with death and black metal bands simply because there just weren’t really many UK power metal bands around.
So the joke in Dakesis was that we would just put on our own power metal festival, and that’s exactly what happened.
In 2017, I rallied all of the UK power metal bands I could think of – there were literally only about eight of them at the time – and that was it.
BUILDING THE LINEUP
This year’s lineup brings together Masterplan, Myrath, All For Metal and Serious Black alongside newer and rising bands. When you start building a Quest Fest lineup, what are you looking for in a band?
Amie: I like to go to smaller shows in the UK and I always try and check out places like the New Blood and EMP stages at Bloodstock to see who might fit and deserves a platform.
After each Quest Fest I send out a fan survey and gather information on who people might like to see. So I have a few lists going for me: the bands I would love to book, the bands who I think deserve a chance and, of course, the bands the fans really want.
Then it’s a case of balancing budgets, availability of bands on tour, negotiating deals with booking agents and inevitably managing the expectations of the audience when they ask for us to book Manowar or Iron Maiden.
Ultimately, if a band is great live, has great songs and is liked by our fans, then we’ll give them a chance.
One thing Quest Fest seems keen on is bringing over bands that UK audiences don’t necessarily get many opportunities to see. Is that something you consciously consider when you’re booking the festival?
Amie: I really try to. I always try to look at balancing who has released some awesome music, who people are discovering and what they have lined up.
A great example of this is Winterage. They were such an amazing discovery for me and it was so great to be able to bring them over to Quest Fest.
Of course, as we’re growing now, we have to balance this with bringing in some of the bigger bands, but I always try and look for bands that either haven’t been to the UK for a while or likely wouldn’t make it here.
I also try not to push UK-exclusive shows where possible for many bands, because I know that to make shows here viable, they absolutely need to be doing two or three shows alongside.
How difficult is it for an independent UK festival to bring international power metal bands over for a one-day event, particularly when some of those bands may not already be touring the UK?
Amie: It’s really difficult actually, particularly since Brexit, and I’ve definitely noticed things getting harder over the last few years from a financial perspective.
I know many people frown at the thought of talking money when it comes to music, but I think it’s really important to be open and transparent about these things.
The cost of touring is insane right now and that means that when I’m looking at our lineup, I have to balance our budget with the bands that fit into that.
But as I mentioned above, many bands aren’t able to support coming over for a one-off show, so we absolutely have to give them grace and support to book other shows whilst they are here.
That’s really what it’s about – trying to build a power metal scene across the UK.
A NEW HOME FOR QUEST FEST
Moving to KK’s Steel Mill was a big step for Quest Fest. What has the venue allowed you to do with the festival that perhaps wasn’t possible before?
Amie: The Asylum was our home for such a long time and we will always hold a special place in our heart for them, but KK’s was absolutely the right move at the right time for us.
We’ve been able to expand our capacity up to 2,000 now. We’ve been able to add our gaming room, which has been something I’ve wanted to incorporate for a really long time but never had the space.
The staging and video wall allow us to support much bigger productions and it was really important that we move to another independent venue.
Also, the team at KK’s are incredible and I love that they are on board with all of our silly ideas.
ENTER THE GAMING DUNGEON
Quest Fest has also become much more than just the bands. The Gaming Dungeon, retro consoles, tabletop gaming and the wider fantasy elements really caught our attention. When did you decide you wanted those things to become part of the Quest Fest experience?
Amie: This has been something I’ve wanted to get off the ground for a number of years.
In 2018 we trialled some Quest Fest crafts and had a ‘make your own pipe cleaner dragon’ table and a Quest Fest tapestry that people could sign, but we barely had enough space for a single piece of band merchandise, let alone anything else back then, so it just wasn’t possible.
I’ll admit that in 2024, I was considering making it the last year. It was becoming increasingly difficult to think of ways to grow the festival from a venue that was limited in capacity.
But on a whim I went to visit KK’s for a site visit and it completely reignited my passion.
The moment I saw the space we had, it was very much, yes, let’s go, gaming room here please.
You’ve even started developing your own Quest Fest TTRPG characters and game. Can you tell us a little more about that and how far you’d eventually like to take that side of Quest Fest?
Amie: We’re all gamers at heart. I think almost all of the crew are gamers and many of us have enjoyed tabletop to varying degrees.
When I knew we were running the gaming room, I started drafting some Quest Fest TTRPG ideas and handed it to our Dungeon Master Fay. They have taken my initial scribbles and concepts and turned it into something playable for some quick skirmishes on the day.
They have their own venture called Fairy Forge, so I expect when we have some breathing time we’ll look at collaborating on this and hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, get some of the Quest Fest skirmishes out there for people to download and play at home.
I’m very open to ideas, so I’ll see how that one unfolds!
There’s obviously a natural crossover between power metal, fantasy, gaming and tabletop culture. Do you find that people are now coming to Quest Fest for the whole experience rather than simply for whichever bands happen to be playing that year?
Amie: I really hope so.
I’ve always wanted to create a community that feels more like a gathering of friends coming home once a year, rather than something that is exclusively about the bands.
I mean, the bands are important, don’t get me wrong, and you’ll always have people that base their decisions to come solely on the lineup, but I hope people will come because they enjoy power metal, gaming and all things fantasy and geeky.
SUPPORTING THE NEXT GENERATION
As Quest Fest continues to grow, how important is it to you to keep giving smaller and upcoming bands a place on the bill alongside the established international names?
Amie: Absolutely important. We have to support independents, now more than ever.
Some of my best finds have been the smaller upcoming bands and you never know where some of those bands will be in 10 or 20 years.
I have seen so many bands in the underground scene in dingy pubs where the only people at the show were myself and three people that had stumbled in after work, and they are now playing arena shows.
So I always champion giving bands a chance, even if it’s just one listen.
THE REALITY BEHIND AN INDEPENDENT FESTIVAL
What’s been the biggest challenge in growing Quest Fest while keeping the identity and community that you’ve built around it?
Amie: Honestly? The resourcing.
I have an absolutely amazing team that support me both in the lead-up to the event and on the day, but for a really long time I was burning myself out completely trying to manage everything.
There is so much work that goes into shows like this. On the surface it may look like a ‘day fest’ with a small lineup, but there is so much to organise and do.
We remain a completely not-for-profit festival and we all have day jobs. This is just something we do to support building a scene.
There is no financial backing and so if everything falls through, it’s on me, and that’s quite a big responsibility.
And of course, the bigger you get, the more people there are to disappoint. You’ll never please everyone with a lineup, there will always be someone that has to complain about something, so if you want to maintain that community feel and identity, you’ve really got to grow a backbone and try not to let people’s words get to you.
I’ve seen people make horrible comments online about the event, but at the end of the day, we are only human.
Sometimes we get things wrong, sometimes we try things that don’t work, sometimes we don’t have the budget to book a particular niche band from the USA that people complain we haven’t booked, you know?
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Finally, when you look beyond this year’s festival, what would you ultimately like Quest Fest to become? Are there bands you’d love to bring over, ideas you’d like to introduce or a particular direction you’d like to take the festival in?
Amie: Oh gosh, there are still so many bands I’d love to try and bring over.
I’d absolutely love to get some legacy acts in like Stratovarius and Blind Guardian. Maybe that’s far too ambitious, but one can dream.
And if anyone is reading this and has direct links to a single member of Lost Horizon, the power metal scene would definitely back me in saying we need a reunion and I would absolutely be willing to carry that baton!
If anything though, I hope we keep growing – but not too much – bring power metal into some limelight here in the UK, and I would love to see some more UK power/heavy metal bands forming and taking some of that limelight.
For something that began as a one-off show because there simply weren’t enough places for UK power metal bands to call their own, Quest Fest has already travelled a considerable distance.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about speaking with Amie is that the ambition doesn’t appear to be simply making the festival bigger.
It’s about strengthening the scene around it.
Supporting independent venues. Giving smaller bands a chance. Making international shows more viable. Creating somewhere fans want to return to regardless of who’s at the top of the poster – and throwing some tabletop gaming, dragons and fantasy into the mix along the way.
Unfortunately, I’ll have to experience this year’s Quest Fest from afar.
But it’s already firmly in the Dead Centre Media calendar for next year.
And Amie, if you somehow pull off that Lost Horizon reunion, we’ll definitely be there.
Quest Fest 2026 takes place at KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton on 10 October 2026.
Want to be there? Get your tickets for Quest Fest 2026 here → JOIN THE QUEST
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