Download Festival is just around the corner – find out what the weather’s going to look like this weekend.
The metal festival will return to Donington Park in Leicestershire from June 13-15, with Green Day, Sleep Token and KoRn all due to headline.
Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Jimmy Eat World, Poppy, Loathe, Jerry Cantrell, McFly, Within Temptation, Eagles Of Death Metal, The Darkness, Spiritbox, Meshuggah, Steel Panther, Cradle Of Filth and Alien Ant Farm are also soon to take to the stage.
With the festival kicking off on Friday, the BBC Weather forecast has determined whether the sun will shine over Download – or turn it into a mudbath like last year.
This year, the BBC have predicted that there will be sunny intervals and a gentle breeze across the whole weekend, punctuated by light rain showers. Festivalgoers can also expect peak temperatures of 23 degrees for Download’s duration.
Take a look at the BBC‘s forecast below:
Friday, June 13: Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze, with temperatures peaking at 23°C and lows of 12°C
Saturday, June 14: Light rain showers and a gentle breeze, with temperatures peaking at 22°C and lows of 12°C
Sunday, June 15: Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze, with temperatures peaking at 23°C and lows of 11°C
Welcoming @GreenDay, @Sleep_Token & @Korn as three BRAND NEW headliners for 2025 plus LOADS MORE⚡
🎟️ @MastercardUK Presale begins now!
🎟️ The Download presale starts 9pm tomorrow
👉 https://t.co/HelW9yeXRd#DLXXII pic.twitter.com/9cJCKvcfzE
— Download Festival (@DownloadFest) November 12, 2024
Recently, the festival has come under fire over their policy that prohibiting trans women from using women’s bathrooms, and trans men from using men’s facilities.
NOAHFINNCE, who came out as a trans man in 2017, and Pinkshift hit out against the festival, pointing out that it “put[s] trans people in danger”. Witch Fever also called the policy “a complete fuckin’ tragedy”.
The policy outlined by Download organisers appears to relate to the controversial UK Supreme Court ruling on April 16, in which judges unanimously ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex under the Equality Act.
In response, Download confirmed to NME in a statement that it would provide gender-neutral facilities, adding: “At the heart of Download is acceptance – we stand with all members of our community and want everyone to feel safe, supported and welcome at the festival.
“We want to reassure all of our customers that at Download, the majority of toilets will be gender neutral and available to all. There will also be single sex toilets provided. Download Festival has always been and remains for everyone.”
“We sincerely apologise that a previous communication on this was not clear. We are looking forward to seeing you at Download this year.”
Witch Fever and Zand later responded by arguing the statement didn’t go far enough by not establishing whether EHRC guidelines would still be followed for single-sex facilities. Although it later emerged from others who had been working with the festival to rectify the issue that the toilets weren’t going to be policed, Download was criticised for not making this clearer.
Shortly after Download’s statement, Lush also terminated their partnership with the festival.
We spoke to festival organiser Andy Copping last November about the mindset of Download organisers going into 2025, and outlined the ways that the event wants to keep evolving.
“We’ve always made a conscious decision to make Download accessible to the general populace,” he said. “That involves pushing the boundaries musically and giving the newer acts a chance. Because of that, we’ve seen the fans coming through getting younger too, year on year. There’ll always be a certain expectation of what people want to see at Download, so it’s about navigating that and delivering the best we can.”
You can view the original article HERE.
