Metallica have been confirmed as headliners for the travelling Sonisphere Festival which is set to take place for the first time this summer.

Metallica will play two dates at Knebworth House on August 1-2, co-headlining with nu-metallers Linkin Park.

“We’re stoked to be touring England and Europe with Sonisphere,” said drummer Lars Ulrich. “Summer festivals in Europe are what Metallica do best. We can’t wait to see all of our fans out there.”

Organised by the creators of the Monsters of Rock and Download festivals, Sonisphere will take place over two stages with only one band playing at a time, allowing fans not to miss any acts. As well as taking place in front of 60,00 fans at Knebworth the festival will also visit Holland, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Finland.

Other confirmed acts for the UK dates include Mastodon and Lamb of God, and the festival will mark 35 years since the first live rock concert at Knebworth.

“As I’ve become aware of the awesome bands who have played Knebworth over the years I realise what an honour it will be,” said Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. “This is definitely one of the big ones, you have to work on earning the respect of the fans in the UK. I would say the experiences over the years playing festivals over there, the audience actually gets better and better each time.”

Tickets for Knebworth go on sale at 9am on February 11.

Sonisphere dates announced so far are:

Holland,Goffertpark, Nijmegen (w. Slipnot) (June 20)

UK, Knebworth, Metallica headlining (August 2)

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