Of all the massive dates in the UK festival calendar, Bloodstock always rates among our highlights. The UK's biggest independent celebration of metal music and culture, Bloodstock consistently brings together some of the most exciting names in heavy music for a weekend of all-out metal madness.

Taking place on 10 ^th-13^th August, Bloodstock have already announced a slew of huge names for this year's festival - including Viking metal titans Amon Amarth, who headline the first night of the festival, and thrash legends Megadeth, who will close out the weekend. Also announced are the likes of Arch Enemy, Blind Guardian, Hatebreed, Testament, Kreator, Municipal Waste, Possessed, and Decapitated with many many more to be announced including Saturday night's headliner. If those names don't have you throwing your horns up then we don't know what will.

This year Last.fm will be hosting the Sophie Lancaster Stage, which will showcase the best in extreme metal, as well as an incredible range of upcoming talent. Black metal beasts Inquisition take up a headline slot on the Sophie stage on Friday night, joining the likes of Wintersun, Macabre, and King Parrot. With many more names to be announced for the Sophie Stage, make sure you keep an eye on Last.fm and Bloodstock's social media for the latest updates, and get in the mood below with our playlist of top picks from the lineup.

Weekend tickets are on sale now priced at £146 – click here to buy, or keep reading below for your chance to win a pair of tickets.

To enter to win a pair of VIP tickets to this year's Bloodstock Festival (taking place 10^th-13^th August) simply email music@last.fm with the subject 'Bloodstock Festival', and stating your Last.fm username.

Winners will be contacted by email. Sorry, we cannot contact you if you are not successful.

Entries close Wednesday 29 ^th March at 9am.