Download festival
All the latest news, reviews and interviews from the festival in Donington Park on 8-10 June 2012
Download festival review – the rock fest’s most cursed year ever
Multiple bands pull out of Download festival over Barclays’ Israel ties
Perfect pitch: the 2024 UK music festivals you can still book now
We may not be able to guarantee the sunshine, but British summer time always means great live music. Grab your spangly cowboy hat – these are the best fests to visit this year
Download festival review – 20th birthday brings double Metallica, occult glam and a new breed
After travel chaos this proves to be an epic four-dayer, with an eclectic mix from Bring Me the Horizon to AA Williams plus Metallica spanning their career
Fans in the moshpits at Download festival – in pictures
Photographer Christopher Bethell joins the fans in the moshpits as the monster rock festival celebrates its 20th anniversary at Donington Park
‘We are the great unwashed!’: Iron Maiden, Metallica and more on 20 years of Download
The mega metal weekender celebrates its anniversary this year. In an oral history its stars, punters and long-suffering crew remember Spitfire fly-bys, urine-filled bottles and a lot of mud
Kiss fans, Poundland and Grenfell Tower: modern Britain – in pictures
From the rockers at Donington to Ladies’ Day at Aintree, and from donkey rides and car boot fairs to Eid al-Fitr celebrations and the 2012 Olympics, Simon Roberts has spent 15 years taking the pulse of his home nation
Give it some welly: the 30 best UK music festivals still available to book
The summer’s big events sell out sooner every year but, whether you like gnarly moshpits, banging dance tents, kid-friendly jazz retreats or gastro entertainment, there’s still time to take your pick and get looking for your camping gear
Download festival review – monster metal weekend roars back to full volume
At capacity again after two years of Covid, jubilant crowds greet showstopping turns from full-glam Kiss to musically flashy Iron Maiden and the fury of Bleed from Within
Field of dreams: the best music festivals still available to book
Big hitters such as Glastonbury may be sold out but – from an Afrobeats party in Portugal to Lil Wayne in a Cambridge orchard – there’s a huge variety of outdoor events out there to brighten your summer
2022 culture preview
Abba to Zappa: pop, rock and classical music to look forward to in 2022UK rap’s biggest star goes on tour, Wet Leg drop a deadpan debut and Rosalía gets into reggaeton. Here are the albums, concerts and tours the big hitters have in store
Lockdown culture
Download Pilot review – a joyful noise for fans and bands Exuberant scenes at the rock and metal festival test event find its 10,000 guinea pigs leaving Covid blues far behind
‘It’s going to be weird’: Download festival opens with no social distancing
10,000 rock and heavy metal fans look forward to weekend of moshing without masks at Covid pilot event
Peter Gabriel: festivals risk ‘losing everything’ without government insurance
Industry figures warn nightclubs and music venues also being pushed towards ‘financial cliff edge’ by delay in lockdown easing
Download festival to return as 10,000-capacity test event – with moshing
Metal festival in June, operating at eighth of usual size, will be first three-day camping festival as pandemic restrictions relax
Isle of Wight festival moves to September as Download and Primavera cancel
Events originally scheduled for June are postponed and cancelled, as sector continues to press UK government for insurance scheme
The fandom that made me
Metallica: the night the masters of metal gave me hope for the futureContinuing our series on the artists who had a formative influence on our music writers, Matt Mills recalls how a cataclysmic set at his first ever festival helped him overcome his deepest anxieties
Download and Isle of Wight festivals cancelled due to coronavirus
Metal and pop events called off, joining Glastonbury, the Great Escape and more on the cancellation list
Download festival review – fire, fury and hymns to the dark side
Headliners Slipknot and Def Leppard lead the way on a long weekend of big riffs and shouting
Reading and Leeds, Latitude, Download and Wireless festivals to go plastic-free
Global promoter Live Nation pledges to eliminate single-use plastics from festivals and venues by 2021
About 51 results for Download festival 
