Long-running ProgPower USA festival is gearing up for its 25th edition, scheduled for September 9 and 12, 2026, in Atlanta, GA. The event has built its reputation as a haven for progressive and power metal fans, bringing together acts from across the globe. This time, the lineup is stacked with both returning favorites and rare appearances.
Among the confirmed headliners are Ensiferum, Eluveitie, Conception, Evergrey, Nevermore, Hammerfall, Crimson Glory, and The Gathering, featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen.
The full roster stretches across four days, beginning on September 9 with The Reticent, Noveria, Fabio Lione's Dawn Of Victory, Threshold, and Ensiferum. Day two follows with Fires In The Distance, Scardust, Teramaze, Elvenking — who will perform a special set featuring Heathenreel & The Winter Wake — before closing with Conception and Eluveitie.
Day three’s highlights include DGM, Brainstorm, Crimson Glory, Hammerfall, Nevermore, and Evergrey. The final day features Sunburst, Seven Spires, Roy Khan, Redemption, The Gathering with Van Giersbergen, and Voyager.
Founded in 2001, ProgPower USA began with a modest debut at J.J. Kelley's in Lansing, IL. Since then, it has become a staple of the Atlanta music scene, hosted at Center Stage Atlanta. Festival founder Glenn Harveston has already confirmed that 2025 will mark his final year as promoter, adding an extra layer of significance to this landmark edition. The event will continue past next year, with co-promoter Milton Mendonça taking the reins, and will switch to a three-day event.
Tickets for the third and fourth days go on sale October 11, 2025, through Ticketmaster, while sale dates for the earlier shows are still pending.
Despite the excitement surrounding the lineup, festival organizers continue to face a persistent challenge: getting international artists into the country. Milton Mendonça explained the difficulties in a recent conversation with The Progressive Subway (via Blabbermouth).
"Visa issues are not anything new. As far back as 2010, the festival lost a bunch of bands due to visas. This year, some changes affected the time it takes for a visa to be processed at the [U.S. Customs and Immigration Services] office. Some changes were made that pulled people out of those offices, and it caused those processing times to become longer.
"Before, you could have a visa applied for, processed, and approved within two to four months — sometimes a little more, sometimes as fast as a few weeks. Once that change happened in January, we had already applied for most of our visas [for 2025], and the time frame changed to up to 10 months. In such cases, the only option is to pay an exorbitant extra fee to expedite the process. On top of that, there's been added scrutiny to the visa applications."
Mendonça didn’t shy away from acknowledging the political undertones: "I would love to say that it's not a political thing, but it sort of is, right? No matter how much we tried to plan for it, we started all of our visa petitions early this year, played by the rules, and still kind of got screwed in the end. And there were a bunch of bands that were not approved, simply because our government didn't think that they were relevant enough or worthy enough to get a visa. So, yeah, it's a mess. I don't know how else I can put it."
The uphill battle has even led some acts to avoid the U.S. altogether. "More than ever, we've gotten answers like, 'I think we're going to wait a few years.' This year, we had to expedite every visa petition. And it's not looking like it's going to change anytime soon. The government's website just says what the average estimated time is. That doesn't really mean anything.
"It costs about $8,000 to do an expedited visa, just to get them permission to enter the country, let alone all of the other expenses. So, a lot of bands are saying, you know what, it's just not worth it. And we're a 1,000-cap festival. We can only afford so much. So, I can understand when bands say, 'You know what? Unless we get paid double what you're offering, we can't make it happen.' And it's not because we're trying to be cheap and lowball the bands; we pay very competitive rates. You know, it's the biggest market for metal bands in the world, and it's still one of the hardest for the bands to come and break in."
