Read up on all the essential info for Download Festival 2018 covering everything from tickets to travel and much more!
Download happens on the sacred site that is Donington Park, next to East Midlands Airport. Donington Park lies where the three counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire meet – the ley lines of ROCK!
Download has excellent connections by road, rail, bus and plane.
Please note: There will be no Pedestrian access to the Festival from Melbourne Lane
Plan your weekend or day at #DL2018 with our Festival Map featuring the arena, campsite, car parks and site entrances.
View the map below or download a PDF version.
We have routes from North, South, East and West to get you to site. These will be used flexibly depending on traffic conditions at the time so make sure you follow the signs and not your sat nav.
There are roadworks near Donington Park and so we will be reacting to live traffic conditions and changing routes live and using contingencies so we can’t stress enough – follow the signage!
When leaving, please follow signs and use routes that avoid the busiest area which will be J23a of the M1.
Car parking tickets will be available for purchase on our Tickets Page.
Minibuses that wish to use the car park must purchase the same ticket. Parking tickets are cheaper in advance and will save you time and money on the day.
We have two car parks onsite – South and West. You’ll be guided to which car park to use depending on which direction you travel from and at what time.
There is a shuttle bus service onsite running from the West Car Park to the campsite village and back at peak times:
Wednesday 6th June – 10am-5pm – 3 Coaches
Thursday 7th June – 8am-3pm – 2 Coaches
Thursday 7th June – 3pm-9pm – 1 Coach
Friday 8th June – 8am-8pm – 2 Coaches
Saturday 9th June – N/A
Sunday 10th June – 9am-1pm – 2 Coaches
Sunday 10th June – 5pm-12am – 1 Coach
Monday 11th June – 7am-1pm – 3 Coaches
Monday 11th June – 1pm-4pm – 1 Coach
Notts and Derby are running a shuttle bus service to and from East Midlands Parkway and Derby station to Download Festival. Want to keep it simple? Notts and Derby offer a £25 ticket for any journeys on their route Wednesday through to Monday – perfect for day ticket holders and non-campers.
East Midlands Parkway to Download – travel time 20 minutes, return ticket £10
Wednesday & Thursday – Buses depart East Midlands Parkway every hour from 09:00 until 21:00.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday – buses run from 09:00, and then hourly until 18:00 with buses from the site back to the station hourly until 23:00, and then every few minutes until 00:00.
Traveling from East Midlands Parkway on Monday the 11th of June? Make an early start and beat the queues with buses running at least every 30 minutes from 05:00 to 14:00.
Derby Station (Prime Park Side) to Download – travel time 30 minutes, return ticket £10
Wednesday and Thursday – Buses depart Derby Station every 30 minutes between 08:30 to 23:30 with the last bus returning from the festival site at 00:00.
Friday – Travel from Derby Station every 20 minutes between 08:30 and 17:00, and then every 30 minutes until 22:00. Buses will be returning to Derby station from 22:30 every few minutes until Midnight.
Saturday and Sunday – Travel to Download Festival from Derby Station every 30 minutes between 08:30 and 22:00. Buses will be returning to Derby station from 22:30 every few minutes until Midnight.
Looking for an early get away Monday morning? Buses run hourly from midnight Sunday evening until 04:00am, 04:30, 5:00 and then every few minutes until 14:00.
See here for a full breakdown of times or the Download 2018 timetable.
There is an area inside the Transport Hub for dropping off and picking up festival goers. Follow the normal Download signs and then the signs for “Pick Up and Drop Off” when you get nearer the site.
If you are driving to Download you’ll need to purchase a pass for parking.
One pass provides access to parking for one car for the duration of the event.
Standard Advance Purchase Car Park Pass: £21.00
On Day Car parking Pass: £25.00
(subject to change – this will be updated closer to the event)
Car sharing will not only help you save money by sharing the costs but it will also reduce the amount of traffic on the roads, helping the environment. Last year 5906 miles were saved, equating to 1.16 tonnes of CO2.
We are working with Liftshare with a community of 5700 Download fans – visit DOWNLOAD LIFTSHARE to find drivers offering spaces in their car or festival goers who need a lift.
We have exciting news – the first 100 people that sign up to Liftshare can upgrade their Car Park Pass to a Priority Car Park Pass. This means that not only will you have priority parking but you can cruise up close to the main entrance for speedy access. visit DOWNLOAD LIFTSHARE to sign up.
Liftshare have been awarded the TrustSeal, which confirms they run on good practice principles with clear safety guidelines and take appropriate steps to verity the identity of their users. For more info on safety click here.
If you are bringing a motorcycle, you’ll need to purchase a pass for parking. The bike park is located on the hard standing area in the West Car Park. One pass provides access to parking for one motorcycle for the duration of the event.
Standard Advance Purchase Motorcycle Parking pass: £11.00
On Day Motorcycle Parking pass: £15.00
(subject to change – this will be updated closer to the event)
If you have purchased a Car or Motorcycle parking pass in advance, you will be sent this with your event tickets no later than 7 days prior to the event. Parking passes are non-refundable. Parking passes cannot be exchanged for cash or resold.
Save money, make friends and go green with our travel partner Big Green Coach. Choose either coach travel only OR coach + festival ticket package.
Big Green Coach is the OFFICIAL and EXCLUSIVE coach partner for the UK’s best rock festival and this is their 6th year bringing thousands of you in through those festival gates!
They are operating Weekend services for all you campers out there. Choose from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday arrival options. All weekend coaches return for home on Monday.
This year for the first time, they’ll also be offering day return coaches for those of you just heading in to see your favourite acts for the day. Forget about leaving early for that last train or paying for hotels, the coach will wait until all the music is over before getting you home!
They pick up in a mammoth 69 locations across the UK; there must be somewhere close to you!
Return coach travel to Download from: Aberdeen, Barnsley, Basildon, Bath, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bridgend, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Chester, Crawley, Darlington, Dartford (Bluewater), Doncaster, Dundee, Dunfermline, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Fareham, Gillingham, Glasgow, Gloucester, Hamilton, Hull, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, Llandudno, London Victoria, Luton, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newport, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Rhyl, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, Southend, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton, Warrington, Wigan, Worcester.
PRICE FREEZE – Most seats remain the same price as both 2017 AND 2016!
Coach + coach travel Package details here.
DEPOSIT SCHEME AVAILABLE – Skint? No worries, Big Green Coach have got you covered.
Coach Travel only
Once again, we have our popular deposit scheme in place, guarantee your coach seat now for only £10 and you can pay off the balance at a later date
Ticket and Coach Travel Package
Guarantee yourself a ticket and return coach travel for only £50 and pay the balance off in instalments.
As our Official & Exclusive travel partner, Big Green Coach are the only authorised coach company to have full use of the Official Onsite Coach Park – no one gets you closer!
No need to worry about driving, parking, queuing for the shuttle bus or taking it easy on the last night! Let Big Green Coach take you home.
They are the last trains/Earliest trains departing from East Midlands Parkway Station over show weekend:
LONDON – 21:33
LEICESTER/LOUGHBOROUGH 23:23
NOTTINGHAM AND DERBY 01:27
SHEFFIELD 00:02
LONDON/LEICESTER/LOUGHBORO 05:35
NOTTINGHAM 06:56
DERBY/SHEFFIELD 08:05
LONDON 21:17
LEICESTER/LOUGHBOROUGH 23:18
NOTTINGHAM 23:50
DERBY 23:59
SHEFFIELD 22:44 (CHANGE AT NOTTINGHAM)SUNDAY FIRST TRAINS
LONDON/LEICESTER 07:02
NOTTINGHAM 10:59
DERBY/ SHEFFIELD 10:37
LONDON/LEICESTER/LOUGHBORO 21:31
NOTTINGHAM 00:29
DERBY 01:09
SHEFFIELD 23:18
LONDON/LEICESTER/LOUGHBOROUGH 04:11
NOTTINGHAM 06:56
DERBY/SHEFFIELD 07:29
If you bring your own coach, please email [email protected] with your name, email, vehicle size (number of seats) and a note of your arrival time and we will send you your routing information and directions.
Anyone coming by minibus should follow the signage for the car parks and park up in the normal car parks.
Campervans should travel to site from the M1 Jct 23 and follow the signage.
There is a taxi rank and drop off / pick up area inside the Transport Hub. Please use this area and do not get dropped off on the road as it is not safe to walk to site along the verges. There are no pavements and no lighting. There are “no stopping” orders in the vicinity of the site and so your cab is risking enforcement action by not using the Transport Hub.
Agreed taxi fares from nearby points will be included here once available.
The main contributor of carbon emissions at festivals is travel, which accounts for 70% of a festival’s carbon footprint. That is why at Download Festival we are introducing carbon offsetting to our car and motorcycle parking prices. £1 of the cost of your parking pass will be donated to the charity Energy Revolution, who invest in renewable energy projects. Watch this video to find out more. If you don’t want to travel by car, there are other forms of lower carbon to travel to the festival such as Big Green Coach or train with direct shuttle buses to the festival.
