Download Welcomes 100,000 Fans In Most Successful Festival To Date
Turning 20 this year, the landmark UK event featured a star-studded bill including Ghost, Halestorm – and Metallica playing two storming sets.
This weekend’s Download Festival 20th anniversary welcomed a record breaking 100,000 attendees to Donington Park, becoming the event’s most successful year ever. The fastest-selling Download in its 20-year history, the 2023 edition showcased world-class rock and metal acts from all over the world across four days and six stages.
The atmosphere was electric as fans once again lived up to their reputation of what is widely regarded as the UK’s friendliest audience, celebrating inclusivity, self-expression and a whole lot of headbanging. With artists ranging from Metallica to Halestorm, plus live podcasts, exclusive DJ sets and a whole village dedicated to the fan experience (District X), Download 2023 proved to be a weekend no self-respecting heavy rock fan should have missed.
The first ever Thursday headline slot saw Metallica dominate the Apex Stage with their legendary showmanship. Sheffield genre-bending rockers Bring Me The Horizon owned the stage on Friday night, delivering a masterclass in thrilling a crowd with their unique and Download-exclusive production, bringing out a host of special guests including Amy Lee from Evanescence and alt-rock duo Nova Twins.
Metallica followed up their Thursday night set with a second spellbinding performance on Saturday evening, cementing their place in history as one of the greatest metal bands on the planet. On Sunday, meanwhile, Slipknot closed the Apex stage with a spectacular display of energy and power.
Across the Apex, Opus, Dogtooth and Avalanche stages, festivalgoers were spoilt for choice as the sun shone over the greatest long weekend.
This year, Download also featured the likes of Halestorm, Skindred, Evanescence, Pendulum, Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro)’s new project Empire State Bastard, The Blackout’s reunion, Creeper, Coheed and Cambria, Ice Nine Kills, Ghost, Parkway Drive, Electric Callboy, and supporting young British talent like Nova Twins, Kid Bookie, Kid Kapichi and many more.
To pay tribute to the diversity of the Download crowd, the “Humans of Download” live photography docuseries also launched, sharing the diversity of Download attendees, with their eclectic outfits and costumes being celebrated on all social channels and sites across the festival. Danny North, the creative director collaborating with Download on the project, shared: “This location and the beautiful people that inhabit this space fills my soul. I wanted to create a photo series that holds a mirror up to the people that make this festival what it is.”
In 2024, Download Festival will return to Donington from Friday 14 June – Sunday 16 June. Limited Early Bird tickets go on sale at 12 noon Monday 12 June from the event’s official website.
In other Download-related news, Metallica also made a £40,000 donation to a charity that supports homeless people in the nearby town of Leicester.
During the run-up to the festival, Metallica reached out to Leicester-based Help the Homeless to offer support from its All Within My Hands Foundation – a charitable organization that supports “workforce education, the fight against hunger, disaster relief and other critical local services.”
In a statement, All Within My Hands said the donation would help “those most at risk” and Help the Homeless said the money would provide a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable people in the city.
