Festival dates are like Christmas: they’re both starting to get announced earlier and earlier. Though the lineup won’t be officially announced until January, dates and venues for the 2011 edition of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest were revealed last week. The traveling metal festival will be hitting 26 cities within July and August. The entire tour itinerary can be seen after the jump. For those who want to buy tickets early, or buy someone an awesome gift for the holidays, Mayhem Fest are offering Holiday Gift Packages for a limited time. Check out the tour’s website for more information.

Even though we’re well over a month away from an official announcement, we thought we’d get the ball rolling and start discussing who might appear on Mayhem Fest this summer and who we can definitely cross off the list. Keep in mind, some of our predictions are based on internet murmurs while others are simply speculations. So with that in mind, this should be considered simply as gossip. Admit it though, you love gossiping like school girls!

Strong Possibilities:

Trivium: Trivium headlined 2009’s Jagermeister stage and will begin recording a new album in December, so the time frame seems right. But what makes this the strongest possibility? Back in October, Mayhem Fest posted a fan tribute video to Trivium on their website. The band linked the Mayhem Fest page in a posting titled “Mayhem 2011 With Trivium” the same day. Though neither Triviumn nor Mayhem’s posting mention anything about them being on the lineup, it seems pretty clear to be the case.

Cradle Of Filth: Though he made it clear that nothing was confirmed, Cradle Of Filth guitarist Paul Allender revealed to us in an interview that the band is in talks to be on Mayhem Fest this summer. This would certainly give Cradle Of Filth a chance to perform to a larger U.S. audience, while at the same time would be a good fit as one of the second stage headliners.

Children of Bodom: They have a new album coming in March (Relentless Reckless Forever), and haven’t done the Fest yet. Plus, Children Of Bodom are large enough to either headline one of the second stages or open the main stage.

Black Label Society: Oh how times have changed. One year ago, the thought of Zakk Wylde appearing on any other festival other than Ozzfest would’ve been unimaginable. But now that he’s no longer Ozzy’s guitarist, anything is possible. And seeing as how BLS had a blog posting on MySpace asking fans to vote for them to be on the Mayhem Fest 2011 lineup, Wylde being on Mayhem Fest seems even more likely. BLS certainly has a strong following and would bring in a decent sized crowd. A main stage slot definitely seems probable.

All That Remains: If Trivium is on the bill, then it may be less likely that All That Remains will as well since the two shared the same stage at Mayhem 2009. However, with their latest album For We Are Many debuting at #10 back in October, ATR might be a likely choice to open the main stage.

Avenged Sevenfold: There’s no proof, or even any rumors, that Avenged Sevenfold will be on this year’s lineup. In fact, their recently announced Nightmare After Christmas tour might imply that they may not be planning anything in the States this Summer. However, all the U.S. dates they’ve done in support of Nightmare so far (including the Uproar Tour this past Fall) have been in smaller markets. Thus, Avenged Sevenfold could use this Summer’s Mayhem Fest as a way to hit all the major markets. Plus, this would give Mayhem Fest a relatively large co-headliner for this year’s edition.

Alice In Chains/Deftones: We’re lumping these bands together because they were part of the very cool Blackdiamondskye tour. Both of them would make a great headlining band for the main stage, and neither has done a festival in years. They’re also both coming off great albums and are marquee names that would draw both old school and new school fans.

Most Unlikely:

Disturbed and/or Korn: Both bands have co-headlined Mayhem Fest in the past (Disturbed in 2008 and Korn last Summer). However, the two have already made plans to co-headlining the Music As A Weapon V tour this year. Seeing as how the tour will be hitting 45 dates starting in January, the two won’t necessarily be doing extensive touring in the U.S. this coming Summer. Plus, Korn just recently co-headlined Mayhem Fest last summer.

System Of A Down: Yes, their announcement this morning about coming out of their less than five year hiatus has gotten us all excited about the possibilities. And since the only shows they’ve announced so far are in Europe and will take place in June, they would have open time to be on Mayhem Fest this Summer. However, their official statement regarding their return implies that they have no plans to do more than just a few festival shows, at least at the moment. Thus, it’s more likely that SOAD will take the Faith No More route and simply do a few U.S. dates to follow the European gigs they’re doing this Summer. However, having SOAD co-headlining would without question be huge and a major gain for Mayhem Fest.

Anyone from Mayhem Fest 2010: This might go without saying. Touring festivals rarely ever bring back bands that have performed on the bill the prior year (unless you’re Ozzy Osbourne or Black Label Society). Not to say that it’s never happened, but festivals try to create a unique lineup each year. Mayhem Fest has been praised for doing so since its birth in 2008, and they haven’t had one band on the bill two years in a row (at least not yet). That said, they have brought back bands from prior years, such as Five Finger Death Punch.

Mostly Anyone from Uproar 2010: Since it’s the fall equivalent to Mayhem (ran by the same people too), the same reason goes for bands who performed at the first Uproar tour as does for bands from Mayhem 2010. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that none of those bands could possibly appear on the Summer bill. Though they don’t want it to be too similar, don’t be too surprised if two or three bands from the 2010 Fall tour appear at this coming year’s Mayhem Fest. I mentioned Uproar co-headliner Avenged Sevenfold above as a strong possibility, but Stone Sour is not as likely. If A7X does indeed co-headline the tour, it would be the third U.S. tour Stone Sour played with them on within a year (not including international tours). Seeing as A7X is a larger attraction, Mayhem could easily pass over Stone Sour more so.

The Damned Things: Granted, Mayhem Fest would be a great way for the supergroup featuring members of Anthrax, Every Time I Die and Fall Out Boy to tour in support of their debut album Ironiclast. Special one-night-only appearances on the tour could be a strong possibility. However, the band taking part in the entire tour seems unlikely because of Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano’s other commitment: Anthrax. The band is working with singer Joey Belladonna to finish their long awaited new album Worship Music, which is expected to be released in 2011. Even if they aren’t still in the studio working on it, you’d have to believe that Anthrax would be doing some sort of touring to promote the album around the same time as Mayhem Fest occurs…unless Anthrax plans to be on Mayhem Fest…

Iron Maiden: They’ve already announced some of their tour schedule, which conflicts with the Mayhem dates. That said, if their their sold-out tour earlier this year proved anything, it’s that they’re still a huge draw, and there’s many places in the states they haven’t played yet on this tour or the last that would love to see them. Then again, their last stint on a festival didn’t work out so great, and they likely still have a bad taste in their mouth from it (and that taste might be eggs).

We could make more speculations, but these are the most (and least) likely candidates so far. You can rest assure that more rumors will pop up as we get closer to January. We will keep you posted when more is revealed. For now, though, you can check out the tour dates and venues for Mayhem Fest 2011 below. Then let us know which bands you think are likely to appear on the lineup this year, as well as those who you’d like to see, in our comment section.

07/09 San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheatre
07/10 San Francisco, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
07/12 Seattle, WA – White River Amphitheater
07/13 Boise, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheatre
07/15 Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion
07/16 Albuquerque, NM – Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion
07/17 Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
07/19 St. Louis, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
07/20 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
07/22 Boston, MA – Comcast Center
07/23 Montreal, QC – Parc Jean Drapeau
07/24 Hartford, CT – The Comcast Theatre
07/27 Holmdel, NJ – P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
07/29 Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
07/30 Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
07/31 Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
08/02 Virginia Beach, VA – Verizon Wireless V. Beach Amphitheater
08/03 Raleigh, NC – Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
08/05 Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
08/06 Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
08/07 Indianapolis, IN – Verizon Wireless Music Center
08/09 Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
08/10 Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Center
08/12 Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
08/13 Tampa, FL – 1-800-Ask-Gary-Amphitheatre
8/14 West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheater