METALLICA will headline a series of European festivals throughout June and July dubbed "Sonisphere." According to veteran festival promoter Stuart Galbraith — whose CV includes previous work on events like the U.K.'s Download and Monsters Of Rock festivals — several events are being staged throughout Europe in the run-up to Knebworth, England on August 1-2 — in Holland, Spain, and Finland, among others — but "Knebworth will be the biggest, grand finale of them all. And it's only 45 minutes from London!"

Sonisphere festivals:

* Holland: Nijmegen, Goffertpark - June 20, 2009

METALLICA
SLIPKNOT
LAMB OF GOD
MASTODON

* Germany: Hockenheimring - July 4, 2009

METALLICA
DIE TOTEN HOSEN
IN EXTREMO
LAMB OF GOD
MASTODON

* Spain: Forúm, Barcelona – July 11, 2009

METALLICA
SLIPKNOT
LAMB OF GOD
MASTODON

* Sweden: Hultsfred, Folkets Park - July 18, 2009

METALLICA
+ Guests

* Finland: Kirjurinluoto, Pori - July 25, 2009

METALLICA
LINKIN PARK
LAMB OF GOD
MASTODON

* United Kingdom: Knebworth, August 1-2, 2009

METALLICA
LINKIN PARK
LAMB OF GOD
MASTODON

Regarding the setup of the festival, Galbraith told U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, "We have one main arena with a stage at either end, nothing like stages next to each other like what you see at Reading. Our headliner for Saturday is LINKIN PARK, and our headliner for Sunday is METALLICA, and the two backups are MASTODON and LAMB OF GOD, and they're just the shape of what's to come. The full lineup will include include some really special guests, and some really big surprises."

Any hints?

Galbraith: "Let's just say there will be killer special guests. We're thinking quality, not quantity, and you'll be able to see all of them. I think that Download, for instance, can get SLIPKNOT and PRODIGY, but then there's the worry that they'll be playing at the same time if you want to see both. We won't have that issue. And we're just running for two days, as I did with Download in 2002. I'd rather run two days of brilliant quality than stretch to three days. It's all well and good having 100 bands over a weekend but some of those will be filler, and there will always be conflicts if you're running five stages. So we're going to run two outdoor stages, which is what we did in the latter stages of Monsters of Rock, and we'll be alternating between one stage and another to keep the music continuous.”

Read Metal Hammer's entire interview with Stuart Galbraith at this location.

Video footage of METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich talking about the band's participation in the Sonisphere festivals can be viewed below.

Lars Ulrich talking about Sonisphere festivals: