Music
Download Festival
Bringing metal back to its spiritual home
At a glance
- Size
- Large (40k+)
- Entry
- Ticketed
Music
- Metal
About
Download took over Donington Park in Leicestershire in 2003, picking up where Monsters of Rock left off. Monsters ran at the racetrack from 1980 to 1996, and the site has been the home of British heavy rock ever since.
Over a long weekend in June the stages cover metal, hard rock, punk and emo, from veteran headliners to bands still touring their first record. It's the UK's biggest rock festival, with a huge campsite and a village arena that keeps going after the stages close. Bring wellies: the mud has its own reputation.
News and reviews
Line-up news: BST Hyde Park, Electric Bay, Escape Reality and more for 202720 October 2026
Download 2025 – Preview26 December 2024
Download 2022 Festival is over – here’s to 2023 and the 20th event in the festival’s long history14 June 2022Download Festival21 March 2021
Setting the Download 2019 fake news straight: a little rain didn’t stop Kane having fun…17 June 2019
Massive new line-up announcement from Download 201928 January 2019
Download 2019 playlist27 January 2019
Download Festival 2017: the Twitter story11 June 2017
Good to know
Camping and stays
- Standard camping
- Campervans and caravans
- Glamping
- Accessible camping
Organisers
Run this festival? Claim the listing to keep it up to date and add each year’s dates. Know the next dates? Send them to us.
Festival details can change from year to year. Check the festival's own site before you book.
