The Download Dog Blog is BACK for 2022! We’ve got some big site changes that we think are gonna improve the Download experience for everyone.
There’s a new hard-standing home for the Village, plus brand new locations for the car parks and Transport Hub that’ll reduce the amount of walking you have to do.
And if that’s not enough, we’re revealing your Late Night DJ line up, plus we’re bringing podcasts to Download for the very first time! Stay tuned to see who’ll be in the Doghouse tent.
Can you believe it’s been THREE YEARS since the last full scale Download?! We can’t wait for our community to reunite once more in our spiritual home. Scroll down to find out about all the awesome changes coming for #DL22.
We always have Downloaders at the heart of any improvements we make to the site. We listened to your feedback after #DL2019 and set about achieving the ultimate goal of reducing your walking distance on site and making your time at the festival nothing but legendary.
A New Home For THe Village
The Village will now be on 90% hard standing ground – on the awesomely-nicknamed Tarmac Lake – just to the west of the site. In 2019, The Village suffered from the bad weather and we simply couldn’t let that happen again.
It’s right slap bang in the middle of the campsites and you can walk there in less than 20 minutes from wherever you’ve camped. Plus, the route from the Disabled Access campsite to The Village is also all on hard standing ground.
The Transport Hub Has Moved
We’ve moved the Transport Hub to a brand new location that’s closer to the campsites to shorten the amount of walking you have to do with your camping gear.
When you arrive at the Transport Hub, you’re right next to The Village and you can walk to the nearest campsite in just 10 minutes.
Coming to DL just for the day? You can walk from the Transport Hub to the Arena in just 15 minutes.
New Campsite And Car Park Locations
We heard you – the walking distance between the car park and the campsites in 2019 was not good enough.
So this year, to make your walk to the campsite and arena as short as possible, we’ve made a couple of big changes.
Firstly, we’ve moved each of the car parks to new locations that are only a short walking distance to campsites, if you’re coming for the weekend, or to the arena if you’re coming for the day.
We’ve also created a brand new East Car Park to give you more space to park up if you’re driving in from the North. This will be accessible via the brand new Castle Donington bypass road. This road will massively improve congestion and make it easier for you to access the car parks.
Secondly, we’ve created brand new campsites as part of our mission to make your walking distances shorter on site. All of the campsites are closer to The Village and car parks to make it easier for you to get around the site.
Also, remember when you’re driving to #DL22 please do not follow your sat nav. We’ll have signs on the road to get you to where you need to be and to let you know which car parks are filling up the fastest.
You can see the new site layout on the map below.
Accessibility
We want the festival to be inclusive and accessible for all Downloaders, and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen. This year, The Village is now the closest it’s ever been to the Access Campsite entrance – just 350 meters! What’s more, the route there is completely hard standing. We’ve also increased the number of caravan spaces in the Access Campsite by 42%.
Download has accessible viewing platforms available at every stage, as well as in the Doghouse in The Village. Most platforms have charging points, and all have accessible toilets. We’re also proud to welcome back our BSL Interpreters at both the Main and Second Stage.
Our Access Campsite has its own dedicated car park, 24 hour campsite managers and dedicated Access Campsite Ambassadors. There’s a free shuttle from the Transport Hub to the Access Camp as well. The camp itself has plenty of facilities including accessible toilets, showers, and a wheelchair charging tent.
Sustainability
We all know reducing our carbon footprint and being responsible global citizens is super important. We want to do our part too, so here’s what we’re doing to improve sustainability in 2022:
- Partnering with Trees For Cities, meaning £1 from every car park ticket will fund tree-planting projects in the local area
- Our main travel partner Big Green Coach are now completely carbon neutral, plus our Liftshare car park will return once more
- We’ve got a new Circular Camping option this year – offering clean, upcycled tents and camping gear so you don’t need to bring your own. It’ll be located next to the Eco Camp
- All water bottles sold at bars and trader stands will be 100% rPET (recycled plastic)
- Co-Op’s reverse vending machines will return for the third year running
- All water refill points have been redesigned with high flow, meaning a litre bottle can be filled in just 3 seconds!
DJs and Podcasts
We’re bringing a massive late night line up to the famous Doghouse. If you’re not tired out after a day in the arena, you’ll be able to rock out and party hard ’til 3am every night in the Village.
Your favourite rock, metal and alternative club nights from around the UK will appear in the Doghouse across the weekend, including Facedown, Black Parade and Ultimate Power. Plus we’ve got DJ sets from some top names like Radio 1 Rock Show’s Daniel P Carter, Zoe London, and our very own Download DJ team.
Plus, we’re bringing podcasts to Download for the very first time! Catch live recordings of Sappenin’ and On Wednesdays We Wear Black in the Doghouse on Thursday – they might even be interviewing some special guests…
We’re hyped about #DL2022, and we can’t wait for you to see these improvements for yourself. It takes place in Donington Park on 10th-12th June. There’s still time to get your paws on tickets!