After taking place virtually for 2020’s festival, Download is hoping, along with many other festivals, that by next year it will be safe to hold live music events again. Therefore, they have announced the 2021 line-up today – and fans are thrilled to hear it.
Big names such as KISS and System of a Down were meant to play this year, and were able to perform for viewers via YouTube and other social media streaming platforms. Luckily, both bands have been confirmed for next year as well. Joining them as headliners will be none other than Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro.
Other acts to grace the stage include A Day To Remember, Korn, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, The Pretty Reckless, and many more incredible bands, with more to be announced in the coming months. Download organisers posted on the official Instagram page to let fans know, saying, “After a year apart, we’re so ready ROCK with you once again.” Check out the full line-up below.
The festival will go ahead on 4th-6th June in the small English town of Donington, in Leicester. Pre-sale tickets will be available from Ticketmaster on Wednesday 5th August, while general sale tickets will be released on Friday 7th August at 9am.
Booker for Download, Andy Copping, spoke to Kerrang! about what’s to come for the festival and the future of the live music industry. He explained that “it’s not just festival promoters, it’s yourselves in the media, the labels, and without doubt the fans – you’ve got to get behind these acts.” Since the Covid-19 pandemic has made it unsafe to gather large groups of people, many music industry workers have been fighting to save venues and festivals such as this, to confirm the future of music as we know it.
Copping continued, “Even if it’s not somebody that you particularly like personally, to keep things alive we’ve got to be bringing bands through.” He gave an idea of who he feels will be performing at Download in the future as a headliner, which included Bring Me The Horizon, Paramore, Architects, and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes.
