Twenty:
three years. That is how long Limp Bizkit waited for this. They were supposed to headline the very first Download back in 2003, pulled out, and now they are finally closing Friday night at Donington. Fred Durst gets his moment.
Saturday belongs to Guns N' Roses, back for their third Download headline and first since 2018. Sunday goes to Linkin Park, headlining for the fifth time, and this one is historic: with Emily Armstrong up front, they are the first female-fronted band to ever headline Download.
The 23rd edition runs June 10 to 14, and all three headliners are playing their only UK shows of 2026 there. The undercard is over 90 bands deep: Bad Omens, Cypress Hill, Tom Morello, Trivium, Halestorm, Pendulum, Mastodon, BABYMETAL, Architects, Ice Nine Kills, Black Veil Brides, Drowning Pool, Bush, Static-X, letlive., P.O.D., and Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar, because of course.
Nu metal royalty, classic rock royalty, and the biggest comeback in modern rock on one poster. DLXXIII is not messing around.
Photo: Photo by Bence Szemerey via Pexels
Source: NME
