The UK’s Slam Dunk Festival has confirmed it is expanding into Europe with two new rock events launching under the banner in France and Italy next summer.

Slam Dunk France will be a 15,000-cap one day, one stage indoor event taking place at Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon on Friday 2 June 2023. Headlined by The Offspring, the inaugural French edition will also feature Simple Plan, Billy Talent, Zebrahead and Oakman.

Slam Dunk Italy, meanwhile, will be held over two days across two stages from 2-3 June on the beach in Rimini at Bellaria Igea Marina (Parco Pavese and Beky Bay), on the Adriatic coast close to Milan.

The 10,000-cap outdoor event will also offer camping and hotel packages across the weekend. Acts announced so far are headliners Rancid and The Offspring, plus Enter Shikari, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup, Billy Talent, Anti Flag, Less Than Jake, Trash Boat, and Destroy Boys.

“We hope to add more countries in the future so watch this space”

Slam Dunk France is being promoted in partnership with French Independent promoter Opus Live along with AEG France, while the Italian edition is a co-promotion with local booking agency Hub Music Factory.

“I’m so happy as an independent festival to be able to expand in Europe with help from some great local partners who share the vision of the festival,” says Slam Dunk Festival director Ben Ray, who founded the event in the UK in 2006. “We hope to add more countries in the future so watch this space.”

The UK edition of Slam Dunk will be held across two sites – Hatfield Park on 27 May and a northern leg in Temple Newsam, Leeds on 28 May. Artists will include The Offspring, Enter Shikari, Billy Talent, Bowling for Soup, Yellow Card, Less than Jake, Kids in Glass Houses, Underoath, Flogging Molly, Creeper and The Hunna, among others.

The French spin-off was originally set to launch in May 2020 at La Cigale & La Boule Noire, Paris, before being cancelled due to the pandemic.

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