Download Festival 2026 brings 95,000 fans back to Donington Park for sold-out 23rd edition
Download Festival has wrapped its sold-out 2026 edition at Donington Park, with 95,000 fans gathering across five days for a bill headed by Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park.
This year’s event, the festival’s 23rd edition, followed its fastest ever sell-out and brought together long-established heavyweights, crossover bookings, secret sets and international acts across the Donington site.
Main stage heavyweights and a Donington return
Limp Bizkit opened the headline run on Friday with a main stage set that drew heavy crowd-surfing across the field. Guns N’ Roses took over Saturday night with a catalogue-heavy performance, while Linkin Park closed the weekend on Sunday, returning to headline Download 12 years after their previous top-billing at the festival.
The Linkin Park set also marked a major Donington moment for vocalist Emily Armstrong, who fronted the band as they brought the weekend to a high-volume close.
Elsewhere on the bill, Halestorm, Architects, A Day To Remember, Cypress Hill, Trivium, Bad Omens, BABYMETAL, Black Veil Brides, Ice Nine Kills, Pendulum and Dogstar, featuring Keanu Reeves, were among the names drawing attention across the weekend.
Secret sets, guests and a tribute to Lemmy
The festival also leaned into surprise moments, with secret sets from Skindred and Creeper. Pendulum’s set featured a guest appearance from Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari, while Professor Green joined Native James during his performance.
One of the weekend’s most significant moments came during Guns N’ Roses’ appearance, when bassist Duff McKagan unveiled an urn containing the ashes of Lemmy Kilmister, bringing the Motörhead frontman’s remains back to Donington in front of the Download crowd.
Crossovers land across the Donington site
Download’s 2026 line-up also stretched beyond the traditional rock and metal lane. THE PRIMALS, the official Final Fantasy band, made their first live appearance outside Japan, while German techno act Scooter brought a different kind of volume to the Avalanche Stage.
Decessus, fronted by Ignácia Fernandez, also appeared at the festival following wider attention around Fernandez’s death metal vocals during her time as Miss World Chile.
District X once again provided late-night and off-stage entertainment, with Five playing a packed Thursday night set, Dick and Dom appearing as DJs, and The All-American Rejects delivering both electric and acoustic performances.
Download Festival 2027 dates confirmed
Download Festival will return to Donington Park in 2027 from Wednesday 9 June to Sunday 13 June.
Limited Early Bird tickets for Download Festival 2027 go on sale at 12 noon on Monday, 15 June. Tickets are on sale via the official Download Festival website.
