With just under four weeks to go till the UK’s largest heavy music festival, the heat rises as we set up for another scorcher. And I don’t just mean the – hopefully – warm weather. Bigger-than-before news on the festival has revealed an ever-growing extra-curriculum list of things to get stuck into when you are not off head-banging in the pit.
This year, the festival will take place from 14 to 16 June. Queens Of The Stone Age, Fall Out Boy, and Avenged Sevenfold will headline the mighty Apex stage. But with the all-around experience almost as important as the acts themselves, the organisers have released more details on the controlled chaos to come.
Exclusive product collaborations will swarm the Download Megastore with more merchandise to whip out as the weekend’s proud badge of honour. A hot dog chilli eating contest, wellness mornings, skate ramps, a Hammer Horror cinema takeover, tattoo booths and traders are just the finely tuned tip of this iceberg.
The Outpost will be a brand new addition to the weekend, featuring live fire cooking demos, primitive skills workshops, and more. From interactive to immersive, Eulogy will offer an innovative 360-degree audio experience from Darkfieldf, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance launch, and various gaming stations.
Festival goers can fuel up with an exclusive 200 Degrees Coffee x Download Festival blend, complimentary with every reusable cup purchase. Liquid Death stations will be dotted around the site for those looking for that morning hydration. There is also word of a branded Liquid Death hearse which may or may not be roaming the grounds.
Food and beverage vendors will bring delicious offerings to keep the energy levels high. In For A Penne, Bunnyman’s Chow, Happy Maki, King of the Yorkie, The Rock and Roll Toastie Company, Spud Gun Loaded Fries, Señor Churro, Crooked K’s Macaroni, No Frickin’ Chicken and many more. The Tap House, Beer Hall and Rocktail Cocktail will be open for the masses, while for those not drinking, the LoNo Bar will be back, serving up a selection of non-alcoholic beers and cocktails.
Inside District X, biker bars The Gooseneck Inn and Ace Of Spades Tavern will host food and entertainment for the first time. After getting suitably pumped there, you will find a Liquid Death Skate Ramp inside the festival site, along with more than eighty independent market traders. Mantorship will also be running an open circle for men to discuss their mental health, plus those iconic fairground rides.
Far too much to squeeze into one long weekend. But by the Heavy Metal gods, we shall try.
More information and tickets at www.downloadfestival.co.uk
