Rockin’ Thunder returns with a stacked line up

After a successful first run, the Rockin’ Thunder music festival will return to Edmonton this July. And the line up does not disappoint. 

The festival will run from July 11–12 at the Exhibition Lands. Three Days Grace and Creed will be headlining the festival this year. Bif Naked, grandson, The Glorious Sons, and Edmonton’s own Calling All Captains will join Three Days Grace on the Saturday. Sunday will have Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip, Buckcherry, and Mammoth ahead of Creed.

Gerry Krochak, one of the organizers, is happy to keep this new tradition going. 

“Last year, we sort of established ourselves with a two-day event, from the time you walk in and the first band goes on, you want to engage everybody right off the bat,” he said. “Queensrÿche opened the show [last year] and kind of walloped everybody.”

He said they saw a lot of people come early to see those first acts of the day. Bringing the same consistency and variety with the acts, Krochak hopes to see people do that again this year.

“There’s something for everyone here,” Krochak says

This year’s bands are a little less classic rock and more ‘90s and 2000s rock. And there’s no shortage of Canadian acts.

Krochak said that “not everyone’s going to like every act, but there’s certainly, if you look at this line up from top to bottom, there’s something for everyone here.”

Krochak noted Langlois and Mammoth as two acts he’s excited to see come to the main stage. 

“Paul Langlois who wrote a lot of those great Tragically Hip tunes, him doing some solo stuff … it’s gonna be great,” Krochak said.

“Wolf Van Halen with Mammoth, three great rock records in the last five years and obviously amazing bloodlines,” he said.

“We’re getting a lot of great feedback on grandson, so that should be a pretty lively performance,” Krochak added.

This year, Calling All Captains is making their main stage debut. In 2025, they took on the YEG Rocks! Stage, which featured local acts. 

“They earned the opportunity with the feedback last year and the excitement that they brought,” Krochak said. “A lot of people view Edmonton as one of the rock ‘n’ roll capitals of Canada, and that extends to the local scene. Certainly, they fit the bill.”

And the festival will be bringing back the YEG Rocks! Stage. Last year, it also featured some younger acts in collaboration with the Edmonton Rock and Roll Society. The line up for that stage has yet to be announced.

“It was lots of fun and fans really gravitated towards our secondary stage,” he said. “It’s part of the fun that pulls the whole festival together and gives that local component.”