This past weekend saw the annual ‘Furnace Fest‘ return under new ownership. The sale of that annual celebration of metalcore, hardcore, emo and more, came about in light of significant financial challenges faced by the festival in 2025. Unconfirmed media reports have since indicated that Peachtree Entertainment assumed control of the festival. With the original organizers controversially no longer in the picture, this year’s edition of the festival sported a more traditional mainstream bill, as opposed to the past offerings from the festival.
Peachtree Entertainment has also been responsible for organizing the controversial ‘Rock The Country‘ festival tour — a divisive run that has seen artists come under fire for agreeing to play it, given its various ties to MAGA culture and tendency to book performers with outspoken Republican/conservative beliefs.
Now fan reports are emerging that mugs onsale for $50 during this past weekend’s ‘Furnace Fest‘ were repurposed merch items from this year’s ‘Rock The Country‘ festival, with a ‘Furnace Fest‘ sticker merely slapped overtop the existing printed ‘Rock The Country‘ print. Other concertgoers have noted issues with spelling in the sticker on the mug, as well as other associated items with the festival.
Seemingly legitimate video footage of that has been circulating on Reddit, and can be seen below. It seems unlikely that AI would be able to replicate the proper nuances of the way only certain letters of the ‘Rock The Country‘ sticker printing correctly peel off onto the back of the sticker. Of course, someone could have also gone through the trouble of doctoring up a ‘Rock The Country‘ mug.
This year’s ‘Rock The Country‘ festival tour faced significant challenges, with canceled shows and various artists dropping off the bill after facing pushback for their initial bookings. Shinedown was once such band who infamously opted to drop off the trek amid intense backlash, despite their drummer Barry Kerch calling rapper Ludacris a coward for dropping off the bill himself weeks prior.
This past weekend’s ‘Furnace Fest‘ was held at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, AL and featured a lineup headlined by Bring Me The Horizon celebrating 20 years of “Count Your Blessings“, and a set by A Day To Remember.
