Download 2026

[OllieJ77]

4 hours ago, alexs7 said:

Also Hasn't been discussed on here but Twenty One Pilots have been announced for another festival week before Download.

 

I would not rule them out at all, If Download really wants to change and adapt I can definitely see TØP being made as a statement booking.

 

I saw plenty of TØP merch at Download this year and my friends who went to the tour saw plenty of Download merch, there is definitely a crossover in fans and you are delusional to think otherwise.

 

However I know this booking would not go down well with many and after the Sleep Token controversy last year I don't think I can take another year of something that will be arguably worse.

Would be all for it but think they’re doing R&L according to rumours but that’s likely fan speculation. Plus I trust the person who’s told me the headliners. 

[ArchieKingham]

I’m gonna predict

Linkin Park

Ghost

Muse/Foo Fighters

[partypirate]

Booking Limp Bizkit and GnR just sounds like they lost out on first choices Ghost and Iron Maiden. Why would they book a band who only subbed it last year? Seems like strange programming for a major festival. GnR I kinda get although absolutely nothing points to them touring next year. 

[andyrhodes24]

5 hours ago, alexs7 said:

Also Hasn't been discussed on here but Twenty One Pilots have been announced for another festival week before Download.

 

I would not rule them out at all, If Download really wants to change and adapt I can definitely see TØP being made as a statement booking.

 

I saw plenty of TØP merch at Download this year and my friends who went to the tour saw plenty of Download merch, there is definitely a crossover in fans and you are delusional to think otherwise.

 

However I know this booking would not go down well with many and after the Sleep Token controversy last year I don't think I can take another year of something that will be arguably worse.

21P was discussed on here maybe about a month ago. Well, I say discussed, we argued about if they’re a Download band for 5-10 pages.

[OllieJ77]

1 hour ago, andyrhodes24 said:

21P was discussed on here maybe about a month ago. Well, I say discussed, we argued about if they’re a Download band for 5-10 pages.

Good times that was haha

[OllieJ77]

1 hour ago, partypirate said:

Booking Limp Bizkit and GnR just sounds like they lost out on first choices Ghost and Iron Maiden. Why would they book a band who only subbed it last year? Seems like strange programming for a major festival. GnR I kinda get although absolutely nothing points to them touring next year. 

I completely agree with everything you say. Maybe Ghost were first choice and have decided to do their own thing again. I’m not saying you have to believe me but I trust the person who told me.

[OKMess]

1 hour ago, partypirate said:

Booking Limp Bizkit and GnR just sounds like they lost out on first choices Ghost and Iron Maiden. Why would they book a band who only subbed it last year? Seems like strange programming for a major festival. GnR I kinda get although absolutely nothing points to them touring next year. 

The GnR rumour was from a 'leak' which said they were playing Nova. Now clearly not accurate. There's nothing else to suggest they're doing Download. 

5 minutes ago, OllieJ77 said:

I completely agree with everything you say. Maybe Ghost were first choice and have decided to do their own thing again. I’m not saying you have to believe me but I trust the person who told me.

There's nothing to suggest Ghost arn't booked. I think given that Download is announcing away from other festivals and Ghost have announced that the NA dates are not the end of Skeletour you can keep them firmly in the 'likely' camp. Right now my betting would be on Linkin Park, Ghost and Limp Bizkit/BMTH. I think NIN might be an outsider to headline too. 

[alexs7]

2 hours ago, andyrhodes24 said:

21P was discussed on here maybe about a month ago. Well, I say discussed, we argued about if they’re a Download band for 5-10 pages.

Ahaha I know - I meant the fact they got announced for a new festival 

[andyrhodes24]

10 minutes ago, alexs7 said:

Ahaha I know - I meant the fact they got announced for a new festival 

Ah I assumed it was Nova which sparked our arguments!

[scrubbertheman]

1 hour ago, OllieJ77 said:

I completely agree with everything you say. Maybe Ghost were first choice and have decided to do their own thing again. I’m not saying you have to believe me but I trust the person who told me.

I guess if you REALLY squint hard, Ghost under G'n'R isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

 

 

[Marka23]

1 hour ago, OKMess said:

The GnR rumour was from a 'leak' which said they were playing Nova. Now clearly not accurate. There's nothing else to suggest they're doing Download. 

Also with Guns n Roses's tour ending on the 8th November it looks like they're waiting for their tour to end before they announce dates for 2026 otherwise they'd have announced some by now. With Download announcing on the 3rd this pretty firmly rules GnR out. 

[Marka23]

3 minutes ago, scrubbertheman said:

I guess if you REALLY squint hard, Ghost under G'n'R isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

 

 

Ghost are a headline or nothing band with their arena tour in April fully selling out pretty quickly and originally being offered a headline slot for '25 

[kitatus]

7 minutes ago, scrubbertheman said:

I guess if you REALLY squint hard, Ghost under G'n'R isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

 

 

Ghost as anything but headliner at this point would be completely dropping the ball imo

[scrubbertheman]

2 minutes ago, kitatus said:

Ghost as anything but headliner at this point would be completely dropping the ball imo

Yeah I appreciate their stature... I'm trying to make Ollie's story, and what seams more likely meet in the middle.

[King101]

3 hours ago, partypirate said:

Booking Limp Bizkit and GnR just sounds like they lost out on first choices Ghost and Iron Maiden. Why would they book a band who only subbed it last year? Seems like strange programming for a major festival. GnR I kinda get although absolutely nothing points to them touring next year. 

I think that goes without saying at this stage.

In 2023 Andy Copping openly said in interviews they approached 20+ bands before they got their headliners.

Last year, with Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Muse all touring, Download ended up with Korn as Sunday night headliner.

This year we already know Metallica, MCR, Maiden and SOAD have chosen to do their own shows so we know Download didn’t get their first choices.

 

I think that’s just where the festival sits in the market now. They will get a massive acts on the back end of their touring cycle and fill the gaps with whoever is available 

[OKMess]

9 minutes ago, King101 said:

I think that goes without saying at this stage.

In 2023 Andy Copping openly said in interviews they approached 20+ bands before they got their headliners.

Last year, with Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Muse all touring, Download ended up with Korn as Sunday night headliner.

This year we already know Metallica, MCR, Maiden and SOAD have chosen to do their own shows so we know Download didn’t get their first choices.

 

I think that’s just where the festival sits in the market now. They will get a massive acts on the back end of their touring cycle and fill the gaps with whoever is available 

This year they wanted Linkin Park, Green Day and a cheaper headliner. It's pretty well covered ground that they approached Sleep Token with a low offer which was knocked back. Korn took the offer to headline then Linkin Park decided to do their own thing rather than fests so they circled back to Sleep Token with a better offer. 

IIRC Muse decided to do festivals late and were mostly a replacement headliner. 

2023 wasn't the '20+ bands' year I don't think, I think that was 2024 and it showed. A7X were always in line to headline but Fallout Boy and QOTSA very much didn't feel first choice. 

MCR, Metallica, Maiden and SOAD are doing Stadiums (or Knebworth, which is a festival sized show). It's just better business for the bands than a festival. 

39 minutes ago, scrubbertheman said:

I guess if you REALLY squint hard, Ghost under G'n'R isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

Are Ghost as big as GnR? No. However the idea of them doing less than headline at Download is ridiculous. If anyone is subbing it would be Limp Bizkit playing below Linkin Park. If Ghost don't headline Download they'll either do arenas again, do their own festival or play at other less rock and metal festivals. I could see them taking a sub slot at R+L maybe or wanting to do Glastonbury. 

[ThatDazFella]

16 minutes ago, King101 said:

I think that goes without saying at this stage.

In 2023 Andy Copping openly said in interviews they approached 20+ bands before they got their headliners.

Last year, with Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Muse all touring, Download ended up with Korn as Sunday night headliner.

This year we already know Metallica, MCR, Maiden and SOAD have chosen to do their own shows so we know Download didn’t get their first choices.

 

I think that’s just where the festival sits in the market now. They will get a massive acts on the back end of their touring cycle and fill the gaps with whoever is available 

Makes you wonder how many headliners they actually approach each year? My conspiracy theory is that after the travel/road chaos in 2023 that the booking team have purposely booked some riskier/lesser headliners to keep the local authorities off the festivals back for a few years.

[OKMess]

5 minutes ago, ThatDazFella said:

Makes you wonder how many headliners they actually approach each year? My conspiracy theory is that after the travel/road chaos in 2023 that the booking team have purposely booked some riskier/lesser headliners to keep the local authorities off the festivals back for a few years.

'Approach' as in send an email asking if they're touring during the summer and would they have any interest in playing Download or as in making a financial offer to? Because I think there would be 20-30 bands they'd sound out each year and then create a longlist, then a shortlist. Like I reckon Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Pink Floyd's management get an email every year, just in case. Same with RHCP and Blink 182. Sometimes I think some or all of the headliners are signed up in advance. I think Ghost and Linkin Park are both headlining this year, but agreed to it last year when they were approached, so maybe this year the 3rd headliner criteria was different and they approached less bands because they knew what was available for a 3rd headliner and they knew what demographic they needed to appeal to. 

[Marka23]

6 minutes ago, ThatDazFella said:

Makes you wonder how many headliners they actually approach each year? My conspiracy theory is that after the travel/road chaos in 2023 that the booking team have purposely booked some riskier/lesser headliners to keep the local authorities off the festivals back for a few years.

The issue for '23 was simply down to the festival not giving enough time for most to get down. Usually you've got the Wednesday and Thursday to get down before the main event starts on Friday but for '23 you just had Wednesday before it started on Thursday. 

 

Really they should've opened up camping from Tuesday and that would've solved the issue. 

[ThatDazFella]

6 minutes ago, Marka23 said:

The issue for '23 was simply down to the festival not giving enough time for most to get down. Usually you've got the Wednesday and Thursday to get down before the main event starts on Friday but for '23 you just had Wednesday before it started on Thursday. 

 

Really they should've opened up camping from Tuesday and that would've solved the issue. 

Absolutely should have opened camping on the Tues. They caused their own problems by trying to save money. Was a pain in the backside having to walk back to the campervan field from the Village! They also then had to commit to a lower capacity going forward. My point was that not opening the camping on the Tues caused the road chaos which mad national news and upset the local authorities and they couldn't afford to do that again to soon.

[chatty]

Out of all the headline possibilities surely Limp Bizkit are the weakest to be actual headliners? I'm not saying they can't headline but it's definitely the weakest band I've seen rumoured for the spot. 

 

Not only are they weak headliners in any other year but even more so after playing the UK festival circuit every year for about the last 3/4. 

 

If they are playing and any of them are going to be a sub then you'd have to guess it would be them. Them subbing LP with Ghost and GNR as the other days headliners makes sense but then again I've seen plenty weak headliners. It's all basically just down to who the festivals can get that year and if they meet the budget. 

 

Both Stormzy and The Killers headlined Glastonbury in 2019 and both played the previous one in 2017 much further down the line up (albeit the Killers were a surprise act). Neither had done anything in the time between and both were pretty poor headline acts. So if it is LB then I wouldn't be that surprised either though tbf. 

 

Ghost wouldn't sub now, I don't think. They'd have to be top billing. 

[DomDom1984]

I don't think you'll see any arena filler as a sub. So I don't think it's very likely that LB will be in that spot.

[kitatus]

1 hour ago, King101 said:

This year we already know Metallica, MCR, Maiden and SOAD have chosen to do their own shows so we know Download didn’t get their first choices.

That is directly conflicting with the rumours of Ghost / Linkin Park - the origin of the rumour of Ghost is they "got" them when Ghost were over just a little bit before Download this year. So the rumour is they always wanted Ghost. 

 

Edit: Additional thought: I think Ghost is pretty much a given considering the rumour, the origin of the rumour and the fact they sit quite nicely in the "style" of headliners we've been getting since the Download refresh ("new" headliner bumped up ala Bring Me, Sleep Token .etc).

 

So we don't know Download didn't get their first choices. We can make an educated guesses, such as the fact the rumours have been pretty consistent with Linkin Park / Ghost for a while with no firm third headliner, which probably means they didn't get a lock until recently.

 

I would argue Iron Maiden are not in-line with "Download 2.0" and the rumours always were that they'd be playing a "Thursday" hinting at four days again, which I think was just people putting two+two together of Iron Maiden's anniversary and trying to put them on a line-up which isn't really focused on acts like Maiden anymore imo. But after what happened at the last four dayer, I swear I recall Download said they wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon since they almost lost their license over it, lol

 

There were rumours for a while of MCR, which I believe stem from that fact Andy wanted to book them for quite a while and if I have my conspiracy hat on, that was probably a headliner they "tried to get" before MCR decided to do their own thing with a couple of UK dates. But it was pure speculation of what's been said in the past, not based on any evidence in reality.

 

I think SOAD came up because they've been playing shows and haven't played the UK in a while, I don't think there was any ever any evidence that even hinted that Download wanted SOAD, even though it would have been a good booking and we can speculate they were probably at least asked but there was never a "it could happen" imo outside of fan wishing.

 

Metallica, I don't think makes sense to have them back so "soon". We haven't had any repeat headliners since the Download 2.0, I think booking them again would be against the "Download 2.0" image they're trying to push with the "leaner, fresher" versions of their line-ups as booking the same people became a common complaint with Download.

 

Hell even NIN only came into question because of a false rumour of playing a nearby festival but the stars have aligned in such a way that it's become a "maybe" from nothing, so who knows.

 

All speculation on my part but where there's smoke there is usually fire or at least an explanation of how people perceived said smoke in the first place.

Edited October 6, 2025 by kitatus

[northernangel]

35 minutes ago, Marka23 said:

The issue for '23 was simply down to the festival not giving enough time for most to get down. Usually you've got the Wednesday and Thursday to get down before the main event starts on Friday but for '23 you just had Wednesday before it started on Thursday. 

 

Really they should've opened up camping from Tuesday and that would've solved the issue. 

Download should always have been a festival that allowed standard day holders to go in and camp Thursday anyway, so Wednesday opening for a Thursday start if managed probably should have been a problem. Tuesday late afternoon maybe but I don't see why other festivals can get it done.

[kitatus]

2 minutes ago, northernangel said:

Download should always have been a festival that allowed standard day holders to go in and camp Thursday anyway, so Wednesday opening for a Thursday start if managed probably should have been a problem. Tuesday late afternoon maybe but I don't see why other festivals can get it done.

If I recall the news articles at the time, earlier camping wasn't an option because of licensing / events on at the race track. I think it also wasn't JUST the traffic, though it was a big issue. Metallica's sound issues were also a cause for many complaints if I am remembering correctly but the traffic caused was a huge deal for the local council / the airport.