Here are the major site improvements Download Festival are making

Download Festival are making loads of improvements to make the fan experience even better.

Download Festival have revealed more details of their improvements. They are hard at work building new drainage systems, planning alternative traffic routes, improving disabled access, and building a 400 strong Dog Squad to help out festival goers on site. They are also moving a stage to help make the site better.

“As a festival we’re always looking to improve the experience for our customers – it’s always at the forefront of any planning we do, so the feedback we received on last year’s festival has been invaluable,” Festival Republic’s Melvin Benn has said. “We introduced the dog blog this year which has enabled us to really listen to the Download fans and take on board all suggestions, and in turn implement plans that will see this year’s Download be the best yet.”

106 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water

Last year, Download Festival was plagued by difficult weather. The equivalent of 106 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water dropped on the site across the weekend. Just in case that happens again, there will be 3000 meters of new drainage on site, as well as new ditches to take water away from the site. Dryer and happier fans all round then!

A new route

In the unlikely case of road closure this year, a new route from the north and three new routes from the south have been built into the Download Festival plan. There’ll be a new car park for daily visitors, and most cars will be parked on solid ground.

New trackways will be laid to help vehicles move around the site, and pedestrians too. Campers will be greeted by more solid walkways in case of muddy conditions. There will even be an increased number of shuttle buses from the West Car Park to the campsite. And they’re free!

Easier access for disabled festival goers

The disabled campsite has moved. They’ll be trackways and hard pathways from the car park, now closer to the campsite, and better accessible toilet and shower facilities. The most amount of solid ground possible will be between the car park, main arena and campsites, and they’ll be direct access to the trackways in the arena for disabled customers.

The Dog Squad

An elite group of festival helpers will be on hand in the campsites, carparks, arena and village to support fans. They’ll be integral to the customer services team at Download Festival. If you have a problem, speak to a Dog.

Security will also be better briefed, with more Zone Managers in each area. They’ll have the most up-to-date information, and be able to feed back to the site managers over the festival.

Moving around

The Avalanche Stage has moved, making it easier to move around the whole site. The distance from the Zippo Encore Stage and the Main Stage to the third stage is now shorter, and the bottleneck around the Zippo stage has been opened up.

The Quiet Campsite has also moved. It’s now further away from the East Midlands Airport for ultimate relaxation during the festival.

All improvements are thanks to the Dog Blog, where fans can give their feedback on all things Download. It’s still active, and can be found here.

Download Festival runs from the 9 – 11 June 2017, welcoming headliners System Of A Down, Biffy Clyro and Aerosmith. Check out the line-up as it stands on the poster below: