Download Festival, one of the world’s biggest annual rock and metal events, will not take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers of the long-running UK fest announced the news on Thursday, assuring fans that Download “will be back next year.”
This year’s fest was set to take place June 12th-14th at Donington Park. The 2020 lineup was stacked, featuring headliners KISS, System of a Down, and Iron Maiden, along with fellow heavyweight acts Deftones, Korn, The Offspring, Gojira, Mastodon, and Disturbed, among others.
In a statement posted the official Download website, organizers explained the decision while letting ticket-holders know they can apply their passes to next year’s festival:
“Download Festival will no longer be taking place this year.
We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and it’s become clear that it just isn’t possible for the 2020 festival to go ahead. This decision hasn’t been taken lightly and we’re beyond disappointed, we extend our heartfelt apologies to all of you – we really did try to make this work.
Please rest assured we will be back next year. Now, more than ever, we need the Download spirit to thrive and offer support to those that need it most. We’ll do our best to put together an amazing line up for you in 2021 and can’t wait to see you all then. Thank you, as ever, for your continued support.
We are working closely with our ticketing partners now and they will be in touch very soon to process your refund, or, if you prefer, you can retain your ticket and carry it over to next year. Look out for an e-mail from your ticketing agent very soon and please only contact them if you have not been contacted after 5 days as they are very busy at this time.”
Currently, the UK is among the countries that are experiencing a large spike in coronavirus cases each day. As of this posting, there are nearly 12,000 cases in the UK, with more than 2,000 new positive tests reported in the last day alone. More than 500 people in the UK have passed away from the COVID-19 virus.
Download Festival is just one of many major events canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus. Keep track of all the impacted events with this updated list.
The full lineup of the canceled 2020 Download festival can be seen below.
Download Festival 2020 Canceled Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
Spencer Kaufman
