The Mayhem Festival is a touring heavy metal festival that took place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival has since become an annual event across the United States. Most years also include a single date in either Montreal or Toronto, Canada. The tour has been sponsored by the Rockstar Energy Company since the time of its inception. It was assembled by Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and John Reese (who was Lyman's partner on the Taste of Chaos tour). On August 2, 2015, Reese confirmed that the 2015 staple of the festival would be the last one. On November 30, 2019, a post to the festival's Instagram account confirmed the festival's return in 2020. However, due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was postponed to 2021.