Rock stars are preparing to arrive at Donington Park for the 23rd Download Festival.
The UK's biggest metal festival will take place at the Leicestershire Hippodrome, home to the legendary Monsters of Rock festivals of the 1980s.
Limp Bizkit, Guns N' Roses and Linkin Park will headline the 2026 festival, with campsites opening on Wednesday, June 10.
If you put this on your calendar last year or if you bought tickets at the last minute, here's what you need to know.
Who's playing?
Limp Bizkit will headline the festival on Friday, Guns N' Roses on Saturday, and Linkin Park will close the festival on Sunday.
While the festival features some of the genre's most celebrated names, over 100 other bands will perform, delighting fans of all genres of rock, metal, punk, and alternative.
Axl Rose will bring his thirst for destruction to Saturday's headlining set [EPA]
Many other bands will also perform on the festival stages, including, but not limited to:
Friday
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From 15:00 (Apex stage): Hollywood Undead
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From 17:30 (Apex stage): Electric Callboy
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From 19:35 (Opus stage): Halestorm
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From 19:55 (avalanche stage): Underwater channel
Saturday
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From 2:30 PM (Upper Stage): Black Veil Brides
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From 3:50 PM (Apex): Babymetal
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From 17:00 (Opus stage): Bush
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From 17:20 (culminating stage): Trivium
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From 18:10 (Opus stage): Behemoth
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From 7:45 PM (Opus Stage): Architects
Sunday
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From 3:40 PM (Apex Stage): The Pretty Reckless
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From 16:25 (Opus scene): Social distortion
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Starting at 5:05 PM (Apex Stage): Kills by Ice Nine
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From 5:35 PM (Opus Stage): Tom Morello
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From 18:00 (avalanche stage): Ash
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From 18:45 (Opus stage): Mastodon
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From 7:00 PM (Apex): Bad Omens
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From 20:10 (Opus stage): A day to remember for a long time.
Among the less typical acts for this traditionally rock and metal festival are hip-hop legends Cypress Hill, Pendulum, who will bring their signature drum and bass on Friday, techno band Scooter, who will take the stage on Sunday, and – perhaps most surprisingly – pop group Five, who will perform on the District X stage on Thursday.
Can I have a ticket?
If you're looking for a comfortable weekend getaway, unfortunately, all camping tickets are sold out.
Day tickets are also in high demand: Friday and Sunday tickets are sold out, but at the time of writing, Saturday tickets were still available.
For those looking to purchase tickets on the secondary market, official festival ticket sellers are See Tickets and Ticketmaster.
How do I get there?
In some previous years, the roads around the festival have been a real hell, and traffic management plans have been put in place to ensure smooth movement for both festival-goers and Leicestershire residents.
The most problematic areas usually occur during weekend arrivals, Thursday and Friday.
Parking is available for those heading to Donington Park, but reservations are required.
Public transport is available, with East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Nottingham and Loughborough train stations nearby, as well as official shuttle buses that take you directly to the festival.
Please remember that trash cans full of beer cans are neither an ideal nor a recommended form of public transport…
Big Green Coach also operates direct bus services from various cities across the UK, including as far afield as Aberdeen and Plymouth.
And of course, Download is located right next to East Midlands Airport, making it a great choice for metal fans visiting from far and wide.
What goods are prohibited?
Each person entering the arena is allowed to carry only one bag no larger than A4 size and should expect to be searched by security.
Campers, don't worry, you can bring large bags into the area, but not into the main arena.
Alcohol is prohibited from being brought into the arena; only sealed drinks of less than 500ml or empty reusable bottles are permitted.
Three days of metal music to take place at Donington Park [PA Media]
In addition, glassware and jars are prohibited from being brought into the arena.
The list of prohibited items includes weapons, fireworks, flares, gas cylinders, laser pointers, folding chairs, umbrellas, flagpoles, air horns, megaphones, nitrous oxide, and excessive amounts of food and cigarettes that security determines are not intended for personal use.
The use of drones is also prohibited, especially given the festival's proximity to East Midlands Airport airspace.
According to the download rules, anything confiscated will not be returned.
What will the weather be like?
At some Download festivals, the focus was on sunscreen and sunhats, while others earned the nicknames "Drownload" and "Brownload" due to the abundance of rain and subsequent mud.
With two weeks left until the festival, it's difficult to make any predictions, but the Met Office says the long-term forecast calls for unsettled weather, with both wet and dry spells possible, and temperatures close to the June average.
So, it might be worth waiting and deciding whether you need to bring sandals or rubber boots.
Emily Armstrong joins Linkin Park as new singer [Getty Images]
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Read more about this story
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Warning: Metal fans heading to Download should be careful not to bring beer.
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Download the East Midlands Airport passenger alert.
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A slam in the hall can result in hundreds of calls to the 999 emergency services.
Related links
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Download the festival