‘Major changes’ planned for this year’s Download
IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED FOR FESTIVAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
ORGANISERS of Download Festival have promised big changes to travel arrangements for this year’s event.
Highways teams launched an investigation in June after motorists were stuck in queues for hours near Donington Park, with some East Midlands Airport passengers missing flights.
Live Nation said it is tackling the issues
“head on”.
Andy Copping, executive president of touring, said “a lot of work” has gone into reducing the festival’s impact on the community this year, including hiring specialist Far and Beyond Events to deal with key issues, including traffic management.
Far and Beyond director Jess Shields said it has already “made a lot of changes to the site plan” and is making “vast improvements” to remedy last year’s problems.
Plans include scanning parking passes further into the car park to take them off the roads sooner and moving the transport hub.
“Huge changes” are planned to improve accessibility for disabled customers.
Mr Copping said: “I think they are going to be pleased with the changes we’ve made.”
Live Nation undertook a comprehensive review and an overhaul of the festival’s operations after last year’s issues.
Mr Copping said: “I think it was the scale. In retrospect, we should have been open earlier at the festival.”
Download 2023 was the 20th anniversary of the festival and had new options for visitors, including an immersive zone, the Download Lounge, and a rock retreat for campers.
It was also the first year the event ran over four days rather than three.
Ms Shields said: “The format of the festival has changed back to the normal.
“Plus, last year was an unprecedented year in terms of the capacity, with the anniversary.
“We are not going to be as big as last year. So already there are a few quick wins.
“But because of the problems from last year it’s a huge undertaking for us.
“We are putting a lot of work into looking at that traffic management on the whole.
“We are looking at the way people are driving into the car parks to get them off the road quicker.
“As you can imagine, we are under big scrutiny with the council and residents.”
North West Leicestershire District Council launched its own investigation after receiving more than 200 complaints.
It concluded there was no breach of traffic management or noise control measures.
However, the council has advised that some conditions of the licence should be tightened.
Mr Copping said: “We have had a huge amount of trust in previous years and it’s a case of please give us the opportunity to show you that we have listened and that we are making the right changes with your consultation and input.”
“We have to ensure any impact we have is as little as possible. We don’t take any of this lightly.
“This is our 21st Download and we want to make it to another 21.”
Download Festival 2024 will run from June 14 to 16.
Acts confirmed as booked for the festival include Royal Blood, Queens Of The Stone Age, Pantera, Fall Out Boy, Avenged Sevenfold and Limp Bizkit.