The beating drum creates a hauntingly mesmerizing rhythm while the smooth bassline reverberates through thousands of chests, causing them all to sway in unison.
Beads of sweat roll as the musical anticipation builds greater and greater. Finally,
Passion bursts out of Ozzy Osbourne in a roar, blasting the crowd with enthusiasm they must release by jumping up and down and screaming along as if they were all one entity… Welcome to Download Festival in the UK- it doesn’t get much bigger, or badder, than this.
Being Britain’s biggest rock festival, Download is full of rock, and only rock. It initially began as just a heavy metal festival, but has since expanded to include alternative, rock, and punk. In the past, it has hosted many legends such as Billy Idol, Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Korn, and Iron Maiden; oh yeah!
The first bands for Download 2020 have arrived. Have a peek:
For 2018 Download Festival has already 3 headliners: Guns’n’Roses, Avenged Sevenfold, and Ozzy Ozbourne. More is yet to come!
Their 15th year of magic happens at the “Spiritual Home of Rock,” Donington Park, during the blissful summer days of June 9th-11th. For 2017, Download Festival had in a yummy lineup- including, but not limited to: System of a Down, Aerosmith, Rob Zombie, Slayer, and Sum 41. In 2018 they will have you head banging, thrashing, and yelling your rock-loving heart out!
If you have been dreaming of being put under the marvelous spell of rock-induced hypnosis in a wonderland built to let your inner passions escape in a roar, then Download festival, June 12th-14th, 2020, will be where your dreams come true. You can smile as you link arms with Rob Zombie and gallop about the land.
Unless you can create a t-shirt with the name/logo of every band you plan on seeing, skip loyalty altogether and just wear black. Why black? It’s Johnny Cash approved and black is cool (especially at Download Festival).
England’s weather has an unpredictable mind of it’s own. One minute the sun may be burning your cheeks rosy, and the next minute the rain could be styling, or ruining, your hair. Bring it all, just in case: your wellies, your sunscreen, your raincoat- you know the drill.
Instead of trying to snap photos of your favorite band that will inevitably turn out blurry, enjoy the show. Download Festival hires several professionals to get up-close and personal with bands as they are playing to capture snazzy photos you can show off to your friends afterwards. Instead, use your camera and precious time to snap dorky pictures of your friends with tongues out and rock fists up.
If you are looking for something to do in the Leicestershire area and are feeling explorative, you can check out the UK’s largest site for all things space, The National Space Center, where you can see rockets, satellites, perhaps aliens, and much more. However, if you are feeling like going a bit more of a historical route, it is recommended to visit the nearby Medieval Castle of Donington.
Camping at Download is quite accommodating; the sites are loaded with facilities like food and drink stalls, entertainment, showers, clean toilets, and more. They even offer “quite camping” farther away from the shenanigans, as well as a Campervan site for camping vehicles, such as RVs.
Being as camping is the most popular form of accommodation at festivals, it certainly isn’t the only option.
Booking.com
Near the area, there are many quiet and comfortable lodging choices. You can stay at the Campanile Hotel Leicester for as little as $80 a night,
Booking.com
or the exquisite Mercure Leicester Grand Hotel,
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or the cozy Keepers Lodge for around $200 a night.
Booking.com
You can search for these and many other awesome places, and pre-book them (because you are going to want to, there are a lot of rockers out there) at websites such as booking.com
Download festival never wants their rockstars to be hungry. For that, it is jam-packed with tasty ‘noms,’ from A to Z; something to satisfy and whet any palate. For instance, you can enjoy some local cuisine, like fish and chips, at the Lighthouse Company, or try a little French cuisine at Happy Crepes
For when you are outside of the festival, fear not, there is still an array of food choices in town. Leicestershire likes to commemorate their dear King Richard III by feeding their community like kings. It is highly recommended to grub down at Crafty Burger for a satisfyingly juicy king-size hamburger, or visit the North Bar Kitchen for some delectable monkfish curry and royal cocktails.
Donington Park is located in the middle of the England, so it is easily accessible in many different ways:
Luckily for people flying in, the festival just so happens to be less than 3 miles away from East Midlands Airport, so this airport is most recommended.
A cheap, direct, and easy way to travel with fellow ‘Download Dogs’ is to take the Big Green Coach, which directly accommodates for the Download Festival. They pick people up from over 72 different locations (such as Birmingham, Liverpool, and London) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and drop everyone back off at their home locations after the festivities on Monday.
The nearest train stations to the Download festival are East Midlands Parkway and Derby. To ease the journey, there will be shuttle buses running services to and from Donington Park.
It takes about 2 and ½ hours: You are going to take the M1 to A45 in Northamptonshire, and follow M1 to Ashby Road in Leicestershire and take exit 23A. Lastly, just follow A453 to the park.
It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes: From Todwick, get on M1 and follow it all the way to Kegworth Interchange in Leicestershire. From there, take exit 24 and follow A453 to the Download festival.
It takes about 2 hours: Get on M6, then follow until you reach A500 and take exit 16. Take A500 to A50, then follow A50 to Trent Ln in Leicestershire, and take exit 1 and continue on Trent Ln to the Download festival
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From 1980 til’ 1996, Donington Park was home to a festival called Monsters of Rock. The park was left sad and deprived of rock music until 2003, when mates Stuart Galbraith, Tom Pyke and Andy Copping decided to continue the legend and birthed Download festival. It initially started as a two-day festival, having spectacular headliners such as Iron Maiden and Audioslave, and quickly grew into the 3 day festival that it is now.
Download is a strange name, we can all admit it. They decided to name the festival Download since this dubbed ‘D word,’ or ‘downloading’ was a naughty word in the music industry (especially in the early 2000s) because so many people were sharing files and it was harming careers. However, Download knew that their festivals would help musicians, so they named it ironically and as an act of rebellion
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