Hellfest is an American all-ages music festival that existed between 1997 and 2005, and 2025 onwards. The festival showcases hardcore music in its broadest sense, including punk rock, metalcore, emo, post-hardcore and more. It originated in Central New York, in and around Syracuse, but eventually relocated to Central New Jersey. Hellfest is known for its fan-friendly atmosphere, including a lack of barriers that provided easy access to the stage for stage diving and sing-alongs. It also encouraged social-awareness through workshops that discussed such causes as animal rights, LGBTQ and politics, with many of its bands and attendees following straight-edge and/or vegetarian or vegan lifestyles.