Sick New World Might Return in 2026

This better not be a tease. Musical blue balls in the worst. We already had our hearts somewhat broken at the fact that our favorite nü-metal nostalgia fest Sick New World was cancelled for this year. Festival organizers were ambitious with their ideas, with plans to book Linkin Park and Metallica that led to overly expensive overhead costs battling against low ticket sales. But, Christmas may come early for us this year, since it seems like there’s a chance Sick New World will come back.

If you were able to see System of a Down on their big as all shit summer tour, you may have noticed how the screens at the various venues featured animated characters that were also a part of past Sick New World visuals. Fans also noticed that a new signup portal launched on the festival’s website, contributing to more speculations on its return.

System of a Down and their management company Velvet Hammer have been a large part of festival’s past, since Velvet Hammer CEO David “Beno” Benveniste co-founded it. The band just announced their European stadium tour and with it, a mysterious message lingered: “Plans are also underway for a very special event to take place following these shows.”

Normally Sick New World happens in April, which technically conflicts with SOAD’s tour since it doesn’t end until July 2026. But, the band’s drummer John Dolmayan also hinted at a possible return when he said later last year that the fest “would be returning at a later date.”

Metallica and Linkin Park are big as hell acts, with them each requesting at least $5 million in guarantees each. That obviously was not financially viable for the festival, so they nixed 2025’s festival in November 2024.

Please please please let us get what we want!