From bands to bags to beer bins - everything you need to know ahead of Download festival

Rock royalty is gearing up to descend on Donington Park for the 23rd Download festival.

The UK's biggest celebration of metal music takes place at the Leicestershire racetrack that once hosted the legendary Monsters of Rock festivals in the 1980s.

Headliners of the festival's 2026 edition are Limp Bizkit, Guns N' Roses and Linkin Park, with campsites throwing open their gates from Wednesday 10 June.

If you've had it in your diary since last year, or if you bagged tickets at the last minute, here's what you need to know.

Limp Bizkit are Friday's headliners, Guns N' Roses are the top billing on Saturday and Linkin Park will close out the festival on Sunday.

While the headline slots are filled by some of the genre's biggest names, there are more than 100 other acts performing to excite fans of every strand of rock, metal, punk and alternative.

Plenty of other bands are taking to the stages across the festival, including but not limited to:

Friday

• From 15:00 (Apex Stage): Hollywood Undead
• From 17:30 (Apex Stage): Electric Callboy
• From 19:35 (Opus Stage): Halestorm
• From 19:55 (Avalanche Stage): Feeder

Saturday

• From 14:30 (Apex Stage): Black Veil Brides
• From 15:50 (Apex Stage): Babymetal
• From 17:00 (Opus Stage): Bush
• From 17:20 (Apex Stage): Trivium
• From 18:10 (Opus Stage): Behemoth
• From 19:45 (Opus Stage): Architects

Sunday

• From 15:40 (Apex Stage): The Pretty Reckless
• From 16:25 (Opus Stage): Social Distortion
• From 17:05 (Apex Stage): Ice Nine Kills
• From 17:35 (Opus Stage): Tom Morello
• From 18:00 (Avalanche Stage): Ash
• From 18:45 (Opus Stage): Mastodon
• From 19:00 (Apex Stage): Bad Omens
• From 20:10 (Opus Stage): A Day to Remember

Less typical acts for the traditionally rock and metal event include hip-hop legends Cypress Hill, Pendulum, which will perform their trademark drum and bass on Friday, techno act Scooter will take to the stage on Sunday and - perhaps most surprising of all - pop band Five will be playing the District X stage on Thursday.

If you want to make yourself at home for the weekend, sorry, but camping tickets are all sold out.

Day tickets are also at a premium with Friday and Sunday sold out, but at the time of writing, Saturday day tickets were still available.

For anyone wanting to grab any resale tickets that become available, the festivals official vendors are See Tickets and Ticketmaster.

In some previous years, the roads around the festival have become a highway to hell, with traffic management plans drawn up to keep festival-goers and Leicestershire locals on the move.

Pinchpoints tend to be around the arrival for the weekend on Thursday and Friday.

Car parking is available for people heading to Donington Park but spaces have to be booked in advance.

Public transport is an option, with railway stations nearby at East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Nottingham and Loughborough and official shuttle buses direct to the festival.

Remember, wheelie bins full of beer cans are not ideal - nor recommended - on public transport...

Big Green Coach is also operating direct coaches from sites across the UK, from as far away as Aberdeen and Plymouth.

And of course, Download is only a stone's throw from East Midlands Airport for metalheads travelling from even further afield.

Everyone heading into the arena is limited to one bag, no bigger than A4 in size, and people should expect security searches.

Campers - don't worry, you can bring bigger bags on to the site, just not into the main arena.

No alcohol can be taken into the arena, and only sealed drinks smaller than 500ml or empty refillable bottles are allowed.

In addition, no glass or cans are allowed inside the arena.

Banned items include weapons, fireworks, flares, gas canisters, laser pens, camping chairs, umbrellas, flagpoles, air horns, megaphones, nitrous oxide, and excessive food and cigarettes security would think was more than "personal use".

Drones are also banned - especially as the festival is so close to the East Midlands Airport airspace.

Download rules state anything confiscated will not be returned.

Some Download festivals have been all about the sunscreen and bucket hats, while others have ended up being dubbed "Drownload" and "Brownload", for the amount of rain and ensuing mud.

With the festival two weeks away, it's hard to read the tea leaves just yet - but according to the Met Office, the long range forecast shows an unsettled picture, with spells of rain and drier conditions both possible, and temperatures around the June average.

So maybe wait to decide if you need to pack the sandals or the wellies.

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