Express & Star

Download Festival 2019: How can I get there? Where can I camp? And what can I bring?

Thousands of rock and metal fans will be making their way to Donnington Park this weekend for Download Festival.

Published
Download Festival 2017

The three-day event will see performances from the likes of Slipknot, Tool, Def Leppard, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Die Antwoord, Smashing Pumpkins and more.

Read more: Def Leppard, Slipknot, Tool and more: Top acts to see at Download Festival 2019

Making your way to the event? Find out everything you need to know below...

How do I get to Download Festival?

Download takes place in Donington Park from June 14 to 16.

The mainline railway stations are East Midlands Parkway and Derby.

A shuttle bus service to and from East Midlands Parkway and Derby station to Download Festival is running for the weekend. It takes 20 minutes to get to Donington Park from East Midlands Parkway and 30 minutes from Derby Station. A return ticket is £10.

There are routes from north, south, east and west to get you to site by car. These will be used flexibly depending on traffic conditions at the time so follow the signage provided.

There are roadworks near Donington Park and so routes will be changing live.

If you’re travelling to the festival by car, sign up to Download Liftshare to offer your empty seats and get free access to priority car park. If you’re looking for a lift, you can also sign up to find a match with someone going your way.

There are two car parks on site – West for standard campers and South for day and weekend arena tickets.

The West car park opens on Wednesday, June 12, at 7am and is the campers car park. All campers must park in this car park.

The South car park opens on Friday, June 14 at 7am and is the non-camping car park. All non-camping ticket holders must park in this car park.

If you are driving to Download you’ll need to purchase a pass for parking. One pass provides access to parking for one car for the duration of the event. Car parking passes will be available on site for £25.

You can also take advantage of the festival's official travel partner Big Green Coach Company with both weekend and day return services available across the UK.

When leaving, follow signs and use routes that avoid the busiest area which will be J23a of the M1.

Download Festival 2017

What time does the box office open?

The onsite box office will be open at the following times:

  • Wednesday: 8am to midnight

  • Thursday: 8am to midnight

  • Friday 8am to midnight

  • Saturday 8am to 9pm

  • Sunday 8am to 9pm

  • Monday: Closed

Box office will close half an hour after the headline act starts.

What time do campsites open and where can I camp?

The general campsites open at 12pm on Wednesday, June 12, and close at 12pm on Monday, June 17.

All general admission campsites are on a first come first served basis. You must have a quiet camping ticket to access quiet camping and an Eco Camp ticket to access the Eco Campsite.

RIP customers and Access customers have separate campsites.

Only camper vans, motor homes, caravans and trailer tents will be admitted to the camper van site.

Your vehicle must fit within the allocated a pitch measuring nine metres by seven metres.

Purpose built vehicles with camping facilities within, vans with mattresses or bunk bed facilities, cars, people carriers and vans are not permitted.

The map for Download Festival 2019

What changes have been made to the site this year?

A number of changes have been made to the festival site this year.

The Village has moved to a more central location within the campsites and there is a new devoted entrance for day visitors and non-camping weekend ticket holders, as well as dedicated car park for weekend campers.

The WWE NXT UK Live Arena has moved closer to the guest area and the cinema has moved outdoors to a new location in the campsite village and is called Metal Movies

Green and White Campsites have now merged with the Blue Campsites and campsite showers are now located in the Gold Campsite

Toilets in the arena and campsites are now split by gender. Gender neutral toilets are also available.

What time does the arena open each day and where can I find set times?

The arena will open on Friday at 12pm, and at 10am on Saturday and Sunday.

These times are approximate and subject to health and safety checks prior to each opening.

For set times, download the Download Festival app.

The Download Festival 2019 line-up

Can I upgrade my Download ticket?

You can upgrade your tickets to the following at the box office:

  • Three night camping to five night camping (adult) – £30

  • Three night camping to five night camping (child) – £15

  • Arena only to three night camping (adult) – £45

  • Arena only to three night camping (child) – £20

  • Arena only to five night camping (adult) – £55

  • Arena only to five night camping (child) – £25

  • Day ticket to three night camping (adult) – £150

  • Day ticket to three night camping (child) – £80

  • Day ticket to five night camping (adult) – £160

  • Day ticket to five night camping (child) – £85

  • Day ticket to weekend arena only (adult) – £115

  • Day ticket to weekend arena only (child) – £70

  • Guest area upgrade – TBC

Download Festival 2017

What can I bring to the festival?

There are certain items you can’t bring into the arena or the campsite.

Visit the event info page on the festival website for a full list of what you can and can’t bring into the campsite and/or arena.

Visitors are advised to bring a reusable tent that they plan to use again.

You can bring alcohol into the campsite, but not into the arena. Alcohol is available for purchase at the bars in the arena.

The festival encourages people to bring empty sports or metal refillable bottles of any size to refill at the water points inside the arena for free. You can bring any under 500ml sealed or empty plastic water bottles to refill, these must be sealed and untampered with.

Attendees have also been informed to not bring a bag into the Arena as there will be long queues while all bags are searched.

If you do wish to bring a bag into the Arena please ensure that it is no bigger than A4 sized 8.27”x11.69”.

There is a limited to one A4 bag per person being carried into the Arena at this year’s festival.

A valid form of ID may be needed throughout the event. The festival operates a Challenge 21 Policy on site and the following are accepted as ID on site for the bars and cigarettes:

  • A Passport (not a photocopy)

  • Full driving licence or provisional licence

  • A proof of age card bearing a PASS hologram

  • Ministry of Defence identity card

  • A National Identity card issued by an EU member state

Download Festival 2017

I've been accepted for the Download 2019 Loyalty Scheme. How do I claim my vouchers?

Once at Download, bring your QR Code to the Loyalty Cabin and join the queue which matches the value of Download Pounds you’ve been rewarded.

Next, show your unique QR Code to the Loyalty Team. This can either be on your mobile or printed out. You must also bring valid Photo ID.

The Loyalty Cabin is located to your left as you enter the Main Arena and will be open from 10am to 6pm on Friday, and from 10am to 1pm on Saturday and Sunday.

How can I pay for things during the festival?

Bars and merchandise stands will accept debit and credit cards, contactless, and cash, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

A number of the food stalls will also accept contactless and card payments. The stalls should show this at the front of their activation.

The remainder of the food stalls and the funfair will take cash only.

Caravan Of Lost Souls at Download Festival

How is Download Festival helping to reduce it's use of single-use plastics?

Download Festival is encouraging festival goers to bring empty sports or metal refillable bottles of any size to refill at the water points inside the arena for free.

Attendees can bring any under 500ml sealed or empty plastic water bottles to refill, these must be sealed and untampered with.

Plastic cutlery will not be allowed in the main arena.

Visitors are welcome to bring your own refillable bottle to Download to refill at the arena water stations, they are also available for sale in the merch stalls.

All water bottles at the event will be made from recycled plastic, which supports the UK recycling industry. All trader soft drinks will be served from cans and decanted into paper cups in the arena.

All bottled alcoholic drinks will be decanted into cups so we can manage the plastic disposal responsibly.

There will be reusable cups at the arena bars with a £2 deposit and all paper cups and bottles in the arena have a 10p deposit included in the price which you can redeem at the refund points in the arena.

In the campsite any bottles bought in the Co-op Supermarket can be redeemed for 10p in the Co-op’s instore reverse vending machine.