Transport
Arrive fresh in Castle Donington.
Flight, train, bus or carpooling: compare the options side by side with your real dates. The idea is to arrive with a bit of battery left — you included.
DOWNLOAD
The UK's biggest rock and metal festival, in mid-June 2027 at Donington Park racing circuit: three days of concerts on one of the most historic sites in rock, more than 100 bands and extensive camping.
Download 2027
The Download festival.
In a nutshell.
Download takes place in mid-June 2027 at Donington Park, a motor racing circuit in Leicestershire, between Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. The venue isn't a coincidence: this is where Monsters of Rock was held through the 1980s and 1990s, and Download picked up the torch in 2003. It's now the UK's biggest rock and metal festival: three days of concerts across several stages, more than a hundred bands, huge camping, and a crowd that comes back every year almost as a pilgrimage to this “sacred ground” of hard rock.
The lineup covers the whole heavy spectrum: classic hard rock, heavy metal, metalcore, punk, alternative rock. Saturday night headliners are often stadium bands, and the same names tour between Europe's big metal festivals — seeing Download means ticking off a good chunk of the scene in one weekend. Alongside the main stages, smaller, more niche tents and a breakthrough stage connect to tomorrow's bands.
The Download experience is as much about camping as it is about the concerts. People arrive Wednesday or Thursday to pitch their tent and don't leave until Monday. The site covers nearly 900 acres, with its own bars, market, funfair and in-house radio. June's English weather does the rest: Donington's mud is an institution, wellies a reflex, whatever the sky says in the morning.
Download · what's confirmed
What we know about Download 2027.
- Dates
- June 9 — 13, 2027, announced by the organiser.
- Confirmed
- Tickets
- From €368, read on the official ticket shop.
- Confirmed
- Line-up
- Not yet announced by the organiser.
- Upcoming
"Confirmed": read on the festival's official website. "To reconfirm": announced, but not yet rechecked by us. "Estimate" or "upcoming": not yet announced by the organiser. See the official website
Download in practice
Profile of the festival.
Capacity, atmosphere, crowd, hours and on-site budget: the full profile of Download 2027 before you get your tickets.
Lineup
All of heavy rock
Hard rock, heavy metal, metalcore, punk, alternative. Headliners are often stadium bands; the side tents dig into the subgenres.
The venue
Rock's “sacred ground”
Donington Park hosted Monsters of Rock from 1980 to 1996. Download has been its direct heir since 2003. The crowd returns like pilgrims.
The camping
An experience in its own right
People arrive Wednesday or Thursday, leave Monday. Nearly 900 acres with bars, a market, a funfair and in-house radio. More comfortable options available at extra cost.
The mascot
The “Download Dog”
A stylised dog, tongue out, horns on its head: the logo is everywhere, from merch to flags planted in the campsites.
What to pack
Wellies and a poncho, non-negotiable
June in the Midlands: beautiful sunny spells to days of pouring rain. Donington's mud is legendary. Boots, a raincoat, warm clothes for the night.
Budget
Pass from £320 (~€370) + stay
The weekend pass with camping costs £320 (3 nights) or £330 (5 nights) at Early Bird; general camping is included. Add transport from Europe (East Midlands airport 10 minutes away), food on site and camping gear.
Download 2027 practical info
Practical info.
Dates, hours, transport and lodging: what you need to know before you go.
Dates and schedule
From Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 June 2027 (dates confirmed on the official site). Campsites open Wednesday or Thursday; music on the main stages runs Friday to Sunday evening. Departure Monday morning.
Tickets
Early Bird open since 15 June 2026 on Ticketmaster: 3-night camping at £320, 5-night camping at £330 (half price for children); general sale opens later in the year. Arena-only options, day tickets and premium camping ("RIP" with dedicated facilities, pre-pitched tents) are optional; payment plan available.
Payment
Fully cashless via a rechargeable wristband (online or on site). Bring a card to top up, cash is barely useful. Free drinking water points on site.
Access and transport
East Midlands Airport 10 minutes away (dedicated shuttles during the festival). By train: Derby, Loughborough or East Midlands Parkway stations, then a shuttle. By car: on-site parking, long queues leaving on Monday.
Accessibility
Download has a well-regarded access setup: accessible camping, raised platforms at the stages, internal shuttles, a dedicated help point. Apply in advance via the website.
TransportDonington Park sits right by East Midlands Airport, in the centre of England — very accessible.
- By plane
- East Midlands Airport (EMA), 10 minutes from the site, with dedicated shuttles during the festival. Flights from Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam and many British cities.
- By train
- From London St Pancras, ~1h30 to East Midlands Parkway or Loughborough, then an official shuttle to the festival.
- By car
- At the crossing of the M1 and A50, between Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. On-site parking (to book). Be patient leaving on Monday.
- Shuttles
- 'Download Travel' coaches serve the site from London and the country's big cities, often as a bundle with the pass.
AccommodationCamping is part of the experience; the alternative is staying in Nottingham, Derby or Leicester.
- The campsite
- Included in the camping pass. General zones (arrive early for a good spot) or premium options: pre-pitched tents, 'RIP' with hot showers and a private bar, camper van pitches.
- Indoors nearby
- Hotels near the airport and in Castle Donington, B&Bs in Nottingham and Derby (20-30 min). Plan on a car or taxis, there's no late public transport.
- Budget
- If you camp, the bulk of the budget remains the pass and transport. Hotels around the site fill up and rise in price over the weekend.
- Booking
- Premium camping packages go months ahead. For a hotel, aim for the preceding winter.
DestinationYou're in the heart of the Midlands, between historic towns and the English countryside.
- Next door
- Nottingham (castle, caves, pubs), Derby and the UNESCO-listed Derwent Valley, the Peak District National Park 45 minutes to the north.
- Further afield
- Birmingham (1h), the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and northern England (York, Manchester) within train reach.
- Weather
- June in the Midlands: 12 to 20°C, very changeable, frequent showers. Nights in a tent drop to around 9°C.
Information last updated on October 4, 2026
Download aftermovie
The vibe of the
festival.
The official aftermovie from the 2022 edition, published by the Download Festival channel: the stages, the campsites and Donington's mud.
Download 2027 line-up
The full line-up.
Day by day.
The Download 2027 line-up hasn't been revealed yet. We'll update this page as soon as it's announced.
Line-up coming soon
The first names usually drop in autumn, several months before the festival. Come back then: the full day-by-day line-up will show up here.
Comfort, well positioned
Get organised for
Download.
At 6am, a ten-minute journey can feel very long. Pick the right home base now, and the route that leaves you enough energy for the rest.
Lodging
Places to stay around Donington Park.
Activities
Fill your days too.
Bars, restaurants, spots worth a visit between two shows: enough to fill the gaps in the schedule without improvising on the spot at the last minute.
A taste of it
Download
like you were there.
Trash Boat performing at Download, on one of the festival's side stages.
1 / 1
01 — DownloadPhoto credits: Issan Sumisu · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.
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