With 75,000 people expected to attend this year’s Download Festival from June 14-16, attendees have been issued advice ahead of the event to avoid a repeat of last year’s unprecedented congestion. The 4-day event in celebration of the festival’s 20th anniversary caused traffic jams on the surrounding roads, with some festivalgoers waiting up to seven hours to get on the site. National Highways’ advice to drivers is to follow signs and not rely on sat-navs, to leave extra time for the journey and to avoid assuming that the route or entry point used in previous years will be the same.
To reduce congestion, Download Festival has set up more parking fields, added extra access gates and moved the pick-up and drop-off points away from the camping entrances. Festival Director, Jess Shields, said that this year’s format is quite different, with two arrival days instead of one to spread the arrivals over two days and plans have been put in place to avoid traffic congestion. Motorists travelling in the area have also been advised to allow more time for their journeys, although any non-festival traffic is advised to avoid the area completely.
Leicestershire County Council’s leader had warned last year that the festival could be under threat if issues from the 2023 edition were repeated again. Nick Rushton described the situation as an “absolute disaster” and the worst queues that he’d seen in Download’s history. Last week, Download boss, Andy Copping, revealed that a big band would perform a surprise set, telling fans to keep their eyes and ears peeled.
In summary, this year’s Download Festival attendees have been advised to allow extra travel time and follow signs instead of relying on sat-navs. Plans are in place to reduce congestion with more parking fields, extra access gates and moving the pick-up and drop-off points away from the camping entrances. Additionally, local motorists have been advised to allow extra travel time whilst any non-festival traffic should avoid the area. Finally, a big band has been announced to perform a surprise set
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