MANSFIELD — The smoke was gone, but the rains came late Saturday afternoon at the 2026 Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival.

Thousands of metal music fans from around the country (and the world) — who braved the poor air quality on Friday due to smoke from Canadian wildfires — rolled back into the venue at the former Ohio State Reformatory on Saturday for Day 2 of the festival.

Music roared from three stages during the day, halted only temporarily when organizers had to evacuate the venue due to approaching line of powerful thunderstorms, packing high winds.

But that lasted only for awhile and the fans stormed back in for a Saturday night for a show that included Bad Omens, Gojira, Poppy and more. Mosh pits resumed and crowd surfing continued.

By the end of the night, metalheads had survived — and were ready for Day 3 on Sunday.

(Below are a variety of photos taken Saturday at the 2026 Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. These images were created by photographers Steve Thrasher, Justn James, Jordan Panto and Dan Virchow for Danny Wimmer Presents.)


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City editor. 30-year plus journalist. Husband. Father of 3 grown sons and also a proud grandpa. Prior military journalist in U.S. Navy, Ohio Air National Guard. -- Favorite quote: "Where were you when...