Download 2017

[Bristol spark]

Cant see another thread on this.

Have been wanting to do this for years, but always remember about it too late!

Not this time though, just purchased a 3 day camping ticket

Will be my first music festival.

Anything i should know/tips? Ive purchased parking and locker. Is the seat of luxury worth the £35?

Are the car parks miles away from the pitches?

Cant wait

[tankplanker]

I'm going just for Friday as I live locally so can go without having to stay over. I wouldn't normally bother going to Download as frankly it is a poorly ran and oversubscribed festival, a bit harsh but sums up mine and my friends' experiences over the years.

The fact that they have an improvement blog says a lot IMO: http://downloadfestival.co.uk/news/dog-blog-januar...

The biggest issues have always been around capacity, they have far fewer camping spots than overall capacity so they sell many more non camping tickets, it always feels far fuller than other festivals I have been to.

Camping outside of one of the premium or family areas is asking to be pitched next to a bunch of kids who do not need to sleep or keep quiet, obviously don't leave anything of value in your tent at all.

If you go with the expectation that you'll get no sleep, get filthy but will (hopefully) see a lot of great bands.

[SlidingSideways]

The walk back up the hill from Castle Donington Co-Op is a killer. There is a pub around the half way mark though.
There's a pretty good chance it will be muddy. There's an above average chance it will be very muddy.
I remember one year where it was sunny, but only one

[silobass]

SlidingSideways said:

The walk back up the hill from Castle Donington Co-Op is a killer. There is a pub around the half way mark though.
There's a pretty good chance it will be muddy. There's an above average chance it will be very muddy.
I remember one year where it was sunny, but only one

This! Was lovely the first time we went, but every other time it's pissed it down.

It is a trek from the car park to the camping area and the later you arrive, the further back you'll be. Camped my first time (in the good weather) and doing two trips from the car to the tent with all my gear was enough so I bought a caravan for the following year! Much more comfortable. Might be the middle aged man in me but it does get very cold at night. The campsite is closer to the "village" where you can hang out after the bands finish.

You'll have a great time, enjoy!

[FN2TypeR]

The extra bogs aren't worth it - I know a few people who have paid the extra and found the service and cleanliness to be poor.

I have attended most years - 2011 and 2013 are the only years I have missed, the former due to work and the latter due to my sisters wedding (was raging as ostensibly that was Iron Maidens only gig of 2013, but they ended up doing two London shows, thankfully).

I'd expect this year to be a bit on the quieter side as the lineup isn't as strong at is could be/has been in general, although I appreciate thats a subjective thing. It reminds me of 2014 where the attendance according to folk at the fan forum was circa 64,000 and the toilets were the best I have seen at a festival tbh - so I wouldn't worry too much in that respect, but if you're female, or a female is going with you, wet wipes and a she-wee will be the best twenty quid you/they have ever, ever, ever spent.

Things to look out for - the walk from the car park to standard camping is fking long so if you have packed plenty of booze and supplies make it a two trip situation, pitch your spot on the first run and take the bulk of your ale the second time around, but take cans for the potential wait at the entrance first time around!

You'll have a great time, if the weathers good it helps but elsewise plan accordingly, and trust me, it can soon change, we were there last year and enjoyed a superb Wednesday and Thursday, but as soon as about 15:30 struck on the Friday the heavens opened, and it came on like somebody had flicked a switch, I had shorts, a t shirt and plim sole trainers on - we got drenched and had to run back to the car/tent (RIP camping) to get kitted out for the rest of the night,

Plan accordingly, pack wisely, don't over think it and go with the flow, you'll have a superb time.

By the way, Rob Zombie absolutely cannot sing, he sub headlined in 2014 and it sounded like he needed to pack in the smokes and hit the treadmill. But I'd still watch him again rather than seeing Biffy Clyro who I am not a fan of.

We aren't attending this year, we're going to Hellfest in France instead - Download is more my thing than my girlfriends, thought she usually has a few bands to keep her happy (and she's an ale cart), but the appalling weather that arrived in 2016, plus Ozzy Osbornes singing, put pay to her resolve despite us doing the fancier camping, she went back to the tent to dry off and left me to dance like a gudjun' to that filthy, filthy NIB bassline


2003 day ticket: weather OK
2004 camping: weather OK
2005 camping: weather awful and freezing at night
2006: ROASTING
2007: ROASTING
2008: pissed it down Thusday, rest of the festival was alright
2009: good weather
2010: alright until the Sunday which was abysmal
2011: didn't go
2012: appalling mud and conditions due to the weather prior to the festival, mud as deep as my welly tops, but the weather was actually OK
2013: didn't go
2014: ROASTING - it rained for about 20/30 minutes on the Friday night and everybody cheered, Sunday a tad overcast but still decent
2015: Wednesday and Thursday were roasting, it was nice Friday until around 6pm and then the heavens opened, I went for a mosh during Slipknot and the rain was unbelievable, Saturday damp and pishy, Sunday OK
2016: As 2015 really but busier, the mud was appalling

A superb pic IMO, during Slipnots 2015 set:

Edited by FN2TypeR on Wednesday 22 February 21:40

[Bristol spark]

Thanks Guys, well the weather doesn't look too promising........

plan to arrive early Friday morning. Looks like around 2 hours from Bristol.

Think I've packed ready:

Tent
Sleeping bag etc
Clothes
Wellies
Budweiser (i assume only cans aloud?)
Ticket

Anything obvious I've missed?

Also are the car parks grass? will the S2000 get beached if very wet?

Only 2 days to go

[FN2TypeR]

If the car park turns to mud then getting an S2000 out of it on Monday could be interesting yes

[tankplanker]

What did you think OP?

We very much enjoyed the Friday, particularly Prophets of Rage. I was impressed that the place hadn't turned to mud by that point despite some heavy rain earlier in the week. Usual food all over the ground though.

[Bristol spark]

Loved it!! Think ive caught the bug and will be back next year

Yes was expecting it to be flooded and muddy, but even in the arena, the grass was pretty hard.

The weather was great overall, im massivly sunburnt, was very painful this morning!!

Whilst a fair few of the bands ive never heard off, there was not a single band i did not enjoy.

My favourits over the weekend would be (in no order)

Five finger death punch- never been a massive before, but they sounded fking awsome live!

Sum 41 - put on a fantastic show, amazed at the energy Derek had after reading about his troubles last few years!

Both simple plan and good charlotte as grew up with their music and both did a great show.
Simple plan suited the indoor arena perfectly.
Good to see Chuck jump into the crowd for a bit of surfing at the end!!

Of mice and men, i couldnt recall who they where, but recogniced a lot of there songs, and put on a very good show.

A day to remember, put on a very good show, ive never seen so many crown surfers before!
Security looked relieved afterwards, as they struggled to keep up catching everyone!!

Creeper- again didnt recognice the name, but recognised the music, and great show.

Alter Bridge - always been a fan of Myles, along with his work with Slash.
Great performance.

Aerosmith - never been a real fan, but thought i should give it a watch, was incredibly impressed by the performance of these guys at there age!
They all looked like they should be in an old persons home, yet running around on a big stage playing to a fantastic standard!!
Absolutly massive ordiance turnout, was near the front and got pretty crushed with everyone trying to cram in!

Oh and steel panther for getting the stage full of girls




If you look closely (zoom in) you may notice one has lost an item of clothing.....


Security seemed very high, however expected.
Bever knew police had explosives sniffing dogs!!

I also quite liked watching the setting up, as its a lot of work setting up for each band!

It is a lot of walking over the weekend, as the campsite us a long way from the arena!

Food/drink semed very reasonable IMO £5 for a beer in the arena is not too bad for an event really. Although there was some very big qu'es for beer!!

Oh and its one impressive sound system, when near the front you can really feel the bass moving the air around!

Agree, always annoys me seing rubbish everywhere, however there was not a lot of bins around, so understand why it ends up like it!
Maybe its just easier for the organisers to just clear it all up at the end.

But very much enjoyed the weekend