Main Arena
Friday 13 June, 12:00pm (midday)
Saturday 14 June, 10:00am
Sunday 15 June, 10:00am

Standard Campsite Opens: Wednesday 11th June, 12:00pm (midday)
Closes: Monday 16th June, 12:00pm (midday)

RIP Park Farm Campsite Opens: Wednesday 11th June, 12:00pm (midday)
Closes: Monday 16th June, 12:00pm (midday)

Box Office
Wednesday 11th June 10am - midnight
Thursday 12th June 8am - midnight
Friday 13thJune 8am – midnight
Saturday 14th June 8am – midnight
Sunday 15th June 8am – 9pm

No-one will be allowed onto the campsite without proof that they also have a ticket for the festival. This will be policed across the festival weekend.

CAMPSITES OPEN AT MIDDAY on WEDNESDAY 11th JUNE.

We will NOT accept campers prior to this time.
Do not get here before then!!

NO ROGUE CAMPING
You will not be allowed to camp without a camping ticket! A camping ticket lasts for the whole weekend or just one night, it’s the same price. No rogue camping will be tolerated.

Large tents/gazebos must be used by the number of people for which they are intended  i.e. no 6 berth tents with just 2 people sleeping in it!

Offensive weapons or anything that may be considered offensive, even if you're planning to use it for camping ( it won't be allowed in )

This includes: ANY glass containers, Prams or pushchairs ( the festival site is not suitable for them or their occupants!) ANY pets, Laser pens ( they are dangerous and may result in eviction without refund )

Standard compact cameras will be permitted, though you will not be able to take in a professional camera e.g. One with interchangeable lenses.

Food from around the world, from fish‘n’chips to stir-fried chicken to tofu-burgers – there will be plenty on stalls on site, catering to a wide variety of tastes! Soft Drinks and Beer will be available all day and the bars in the campsite entertainment zone will be open until well after the main show finishes.

No glass bottles to be brought in to the festival site.  Cans are only allowed on the campsites but not in the festival arena – any found will be confiscated.

Disposable BBQ’s and small camping stoves are allowed in the campsite only, however, the organiser reserves the right to confiscate any disposable BBQ’s used irresponsibly.

Once on site it is important to plan your day. Obviously the priority is making sure you get to see the acts that mean the most to you – come back to the festival website a few days before the show and all band times will be listed so you can plan in advance.

Don’t forget some other basics though – If you are with friends & are camping together or travelling home together - arrange a place & time to meet up at the end of the night.

Large crowds, a long day & hot weather in combination will tire you out. Make sure you pace yourself, drink plenty of water, eat some food that will give you some energy & minimize sun exposure.

We have very welcoming neighbours at Donington, amongst some beautiful farmland; however, we are in the countryside, be careful and keep noise to a minimum when leaving the festival area.

We want to come back next year, so, anyone found on private property, pitching their tent or making what seems like a crafty shortcut, will be dealt with by the authorities ­ and you won't get any sympathy from us! Use our campsite and our car parks ­ that way, you won't have your car impounded or tent removed!

If you do drink, don't do drunk! Excessive drinking is bad for your health and your memory - surely you want to remember Download for the right reasons. Pace yourself, and have a great weekend.

IF YOU DRINK, DON'T DRIVE. DON'T RISK IT. 

There will be large police presence at Download Festival don't risk ruining everything. If you want to drink, take the shuttle bus or camp over the whole weekend, and remember don't drive until you're in the clear.

Drugs, hard or soft, are no more legal at festivals than they are anywhere else ­ the same penalties and risks apply. Festivals and large crowds can be disorientating experiences ­ this is definitely not the place to start experimenting. And remember, there are film crews, security staff and police throughout the site and surrounding area ­ its not exactly secluded!

After all this however, don't be afraid to tell medical staff or stewards if something is going wrong.

Security will have discretionary powers to restrict crowd numbers plus people who are too small or young, intoxicated, aggressive or possibly drug affected, incapacitated, in a wheelchair or on crutches.

Crowd surfing and moshing are dangerous to yourself and others and may result in eviction without a refund, so don’t do it.

Please consider others as well as your own safety, especially in front of stages. If someone falls down or is in distress please help them if you can or let the Stewards or Medical team know so we can help. It's meant to be a fun day, let's make sure it is.

We are no longer accepting band submissions for this event.

Tickets should always be bought from a reliable source, below are some options for you.

Online: From the official website you're currently on obviously - http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets/index.aspx

By phone: Call the Live Nation ticket hotline: 08704000688

In person: From a Ticketmaster ticket centre: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/etc/?tm_link=tm_retail_header

We cannot be held responsible for any purchases made through unreliable sources.

Live Nation have now brought all disabled customer ticket sales in-house. We now have a Disabled Customers hotline number that patrons can call when booking tickets to reserve a place on the platform. It is 0121 767 9729

Disabled customers will be provided with one free ticket for their helper, where required. Should additional helper tickets be required, please call the disabled access ticket line on 0121 767 9729 or email access@downloadfestival.co.uk

For "RIP" Experience packages, please call 020 7009 3484 to discuss your requirements.

"Rest in Peace" with a better class of camping, or stay in a hotel. All "RIP" packages come with a weekend ticket and a guest area access pass. Buy the whole package - or, if you have already bought a standard weekend arena ticket, you can simply upgrade by using the "without ticket" option.

RIP – NEW FOR 2008

• We're closing the gates on reduced numbers this year to preserve RIP as it should be, Rock by day rest by night!
• Look out for big shiny water containers on Park Farm this year. To combat the water pressure problem throughout Castle Donington,  we will have our very own water wells so that we have water as and when you need it. 
• If you prefer to use the mains showers supplied (the purpose built shower blocks) we'll be providing you with a bundle of tokens when you arrive. Of course the lovely shower trailers don't require tokens and these will be taking up their place on the campsite as normal. 
• There'll be a quiz night as per last year and we're working up some other ideas to help while away those days before the festival begins... See you in June!!

Overseas customers will have the choice of either collecting their tickets at the on-site box office or having tickets delivered to the registered billing address.

Overseas delivery is by FedEx, prices are as below:

European Union (plus Switzerland) and U.S.A                 £13.50
Rest of the World                                                                    £18.50

No-one will be allowed onto the campsite without proof that they also have a full weekend arena ticket for the festival. This will be policed across the festival weekend.

You will not be allowed to camp without a camping ticket! A camping ticket lasts for the whole weekend or just one night, it’s the same price. No rogue camping will be tolerated. Check back to this website before the festival for full details about camping, parking, safety and security.

Live Nation have now brought all disabled customer ticket sales in-house.

We now have a Disabled Customers hotline number that patrons can call to book tickets -  It is 0121 767 9729

For overseas bookings, please call +44 121 767 9729

NB: Disabled customers will be provided with one free ticket for their helper, where required. Should additional helper tickets be required, please call the disabled access ticket line on 0121 767 9729 or email access@downloadfestival.co.uk

For "RIP” Experience packages, please call 020 7009 3484 to discuss your requirements.

Camping facilities and toilets are provided for disabled customers. Please ensure you purchase a disabled access camping ticket. Please contact us at access@downloadfestival.co.uk if you wish to camp with your friends, though I’m afraid we must limit this to 4 friends per disabled customer due to restrictions on space.

Motorhomes may also be taken in to the disabled campsite and at no extra charge.

Can all disabled persons that are camping please bring with them a copy of your blue badge or DLA form. This is for your own safety so we have no unwanted guests into your camping area.

Trying to get to the festival in an environmentally friendly way, but still want to do more?  Donate a few pence to offset the carbon emitted by travelling to the festival:

Climate change is a pressing global issue. Nevertheless, there are things that we can all do.

We are committed to encouraging and providing more sustainable transport options to Download Festival where possible, and would also like to offer customers the opportunity to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions associated with travelling to this event.

If you would like to participate in this scheme, there is an option to add 50p to your order on the shipping page. The figure of 50p represents the average per person CO2 emissions associated with audience travel to and from the concert. It was deduced using results of transport surveys and transport modelling along with approved DEFRA conversion figures. The funds will purchase Gold Standard Voluntary Emissions Reductions (VER's) from Emission:Statement who also support UK based environmental organisations to promote the solutions to climate change 'locally' as well as 'globally'.

Emission:Statement was established following repeated requests for high quality and transparent carbon offset from clients across the music industry.  Music artists and organisations who had carried out considerable carbon reduction, wanted to offset their remaining unavoidable business, travel and event emissions.

The Gold Standard is an independent, transparent, internationally recognized benchmark for ‘high quality’ energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. Our offset meets strict sustainable development criteria as validated by independent UN accredited bodies. Gold Standard is also the only offset supported by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF.

For more information on the offset scheme go to www.emissionstatement.co.uk

Hassle free transport direct to Donington Park from across the UK National Express are back, bringing the most important people to Donington Park – YOU! 

Direct Services to Download 2008 will be available from all the major cities, including Birmingham, London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow and many smaller towns, including Dudley, Blackpool, Gloucester and Exeter. 

GO GREEN ! 
Coach travel is the most environmentally friendly form of public transport and in 2006 an estimated 285,000 tCO2e were saved from using coach instead of car (data ECCM).  - This is equivalent to over 5 billion kettles boiling or 6.5 billion televisions powered for an hour. 

So by choosing to use National Express coach instead of a car to get to Download you really are reducing your carbon footprint.
To book your travel to Download call: 08717 81 81 81 (£1 booking fee applies) or simply visit any National Express outlet Website: www.nationalexpress.com/download

TRAIN INFO
For info on trains from your nearest station to Loughborough or Derby, call National Rail on: 08457 484 950. 

There will be official festival shuttle buses running to and from both of these stations: 

Loughborough Station - www.midlandmainline.com 
Derby Station - www.virgintrains.co.uk


RAILWAY STATION SHUTTLE BUSESOfficial shuttles from Derby and Loughborough stations to take you to the festival direct. 

Shuttle bus tickets will cost £7.00 return and are ONLY available from the bus operators on the day. Tickets cannot be prebooked.

More about DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL’s green initiatives
Download was the dirtiest festival of 2006.  In 2007, we were crowned the ‘Most Improved Festival’ by Agreenerfestival.com and we have built on this heavily to make sure that Download 2008 is the best and greenest Download ever!

Our Mission:  We know that Download Festival creates environmental impacts through the transport of goods and people, the use of resources and the generation of large volumes of waste that contribute to global environmental problems such as climate change. We are committed to delivering an event that continually improves its environmental performance.
We are promoting a major drive on raising environmental awareness across the festival: artists will receive briefing packs detailing what we are doing across the site and providing them information on how they can reduce their environmental footprint both at Download and elsewhere.

The major initiative of 2008 is that we are focusing on reducing the emissions from our audiences transport to and from the event.

"Come on then," we hear you ask, "what are you doing about it??
Well, on transport, we're promoting Liftshare; championing the use of public transport and providing reliable shuttle buses; festival staff will be using bikes to get around the site from build to break, and they will be living on site to reduce local journeys to accommodation.

We realise that Donington Park is a pretty tricky place to get to, but we hope that by car-sharing, or using a dedicated Download bus services from around the country, or taking the train or coach and using our shuttle buses from Derby and Loughborough stations, you can do your bit to help save the planet when you come to Download 2008. Visit the TRAVEL INFO section for some green options to consider when making your travel plans.

We remain dedicated to promoting public transport and investigating alternatives and this year we have teamed up with Emission:Statement to offer a simply way for you to offset the unavoidable CO2 emissions associated with travelling to the festival. When purchasing tickets customers have the option of adding 50p, cost deduced through transport modelling, onto their ticket price to offset their transport emissions by purchasing Gold Standard Voluntary Emissions Reductions (VER’s). All the funds will go directly into purchasing the Gold Standard offsets from Emission:Statement who will also support UK based environmental organizations to promote the solutions to climate change ‘locally’ as well as ‘globally’.
For more information on the offset scheme go to www.emissionstatement.co.uk

Energy use
All site lighting will use energy efficient bulbs; there will be a site-wide energy efficiency program to turn off unused equipment; light sensitive switches will make sure that lights aren’t left on unnecessarily and high efficiency generators will be used across site.

Recycling
The hugely successful cup deposit scheme from last year will still be in place which last year resulted in all the beer cups on site, over 17 tonnes, being recycled. This year the deposit scheme will be extended to plastic bottles bought on site as well, this will not only ensure that they are recycled but will help keep the site clean. All vendors will be using biodegradable food containers and utensils across the site. 
The campsites Hubs will have recycling facilities for cans, plastics, paper and card and festival goers will be incentivised to recycle their waste. These initiatives will build on last year’s success where we recycled over 60 tonnes of waste from the campsite and reduced our waste to landfill by over 27%.

All unwanted tents and camping equipment will be collected during and after the festival and donated to local Scout groups and Give Me Shelter, www.globalhand.org.

We have brought on specific environmental groups / charities to give advice to festival goers about improving their environmental impacts away from the event. And to top it all off, "Comfy Crappers" will be onsite to compost human waste from the toilets!

Recycle before/after you come to the festival
In the run up to the festival, sign up to www.Freecycle.org to get FREE stuff!  It's essentially ebay with no money, people list stuff they don’t want anymore and you just take it from them for FREE!!! It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. If you need a tent or camping equipment, or if you don’t need yours anymore, register with Freecycle.  One person's trash can truly be another's treasure! 

The future…
We are already planning for 2009 and intend to add extra initiatives in place by then covering the extensive use of renewable energy, intensive energy efficiency programs, composting of all food waste, increased use of recycled materials and improved transport solutions.

Thanks to boardies Tony Taylor and Stuart Fisher for the photograph of AFTER the festival, Download 2007. 
Yes, if you look closely (click the image to enlarge), this is a pic of the aftermath and all the RUBBISH that was left behind.  We are aiming to recycle as much as possible of your rubbish this year - who’s with us??!

** Recycling - Download Dirtbag Scheme - Win Weekend VIP Tickets and beer!!
Get a Download Dirtbag from your campsite Hub Green Warrior – follow the instructions on the bag, fill it and take it to the Download Dirtbag recycling and rubbish collection point at your nearest campsite Hub for a chance to win a pair of VIP weekend tickets for Download 2009, and get a free can of cold beer!  There will be a pair of 2009 VIP weekend tickets to be won EACH day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday).
Help us to keep the site clean and clear of rubbish, plus make sure your emptys go to a better place.

** Use the Campsite Hubs
Extended this year. Following the success of last year’s campsite Hubs, they return with a vengeance in 2008. There will be the same 5 Hubs spread across the campsites, but they will be bigger and better, with increased recycling facilities and volunteers on hand to assist you.

Along with the Hub Manager and Security point, each Hub will have a Green Warrior or two to assist with the recycling points for cardboard, plastic, glass bottles and cans.

Tents and any other useful outdoor gear (wellies, camping stoves, leftover unopened food tins etc) can also be donated to your local campsite Hub throughout the weekend.

The Hubs will be marked clearly on the official map.

** Rubbish Skips
Keep your weekend environment litter free - there will be other rubbish skips all around the site for your use.

We’re delighted to announce that this year, Comfy Crappers green toilets are coming back to Download, and this time you can buy your visits in advance!   You can purchase a limited number of wristbands, pre-event, over the internet at a reduced rate:

It’s the only way to go!
Go on, treat yourself this year, to a Limited Edition Comfy Crappers Wristband, your ticket to festival toileting heaven! They charge £13 per wristband. This entitles you to infinite use of their facilities over the weekend. For your cash they promise green clean toilets and more. Check out their website, read visitors comments and download the wristband form at www.comfycrappers.com and relax knowing that all your toilet worries are over. Until then… Stay regular!

Maintaining a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness, they boldly take the festival toilet experience to places it has never gone before.

Comfy Crappers aim to bring clean, fresh, hygienic and environmentally friendly toilets to the public. Comfy Crappers employ green working practises - the company take their tanks full of poo away with them after the festival and take care of it for 2 years, by which time, it magically turns into compost. Hurrah!

The white box in the photo is full of sawdust, to cover your poo after you've done it. The pipe takes bad smells away. The Poo Village requires no piping, direct water supply, and does not alter the land in any way whatsoever.

As well as a fresh, comfortable toilet experience Comfy Crappers also provide hot towels, preening parlour and sell basic medicines, ladies sanitary products, and festival essentials. Check out the preening parlour:

Staff go about their duties in costume and character providing entertainment and a warm welcome. The highlight of the day is the morning session of duff prize bingo. No money is exchanged - this is purely a little fun to entertain the morning queue.

We asked Comfy Crappers to come to Download when we heard what their satisfied customers had said:

"I appreciated the 7 Taiwanese Virgins blowing up my bottom!"
"Best £2 spent all weekend"
"We love your poo village"
"Fantastic idea all festivals should have these loos"
"Excellent, clean, fresh, keep up the good work"
"Excellent toilets, excellent service, great staff"
"Shit hot shit in a shit hot shitter many thanks"
"No more taking immodium or going home with belly ache, many thanks"

Trying to get to the festival in an environmentally friendly way, but still want to do more?  
Donate a few pence to offset the carbon emitted by travelling to the festival:

Climate change is a pressing global issue. Nevertheless, there are things that we can all do.

We are committed to encouraging and providing more sustainable transport options to Download Festival where possible, and would also like to offer customers the opportunity to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions associated with travelling to this event.

If you would like to participate in this scheme, there is an option to add 50p to your order on the shipping page. The figure of 50p represents the average per person CO2 emissions associated with audience travel to and from the concert. It was deduced using results of transport surveys and transport modelling along with approved DEFRA conversion figures. The funds will purchase Gold Standard Voluntary Emissions Reductions (VER's) from Emission:Statement who also support UK based environmental organisations to promote the solutions to climate change 'locally' as well as 'globally'.

Emission:Statement was established following repeated requests for high quality and transparent carbon offset from clients across the music industry.  Music artists and organisations who had carried out considerable carbon reduction, wanted to offset their remaining unavoidable business, travel and event emissions.

The Gold Standard is an independent, transparent, internationally recognized benchmark for ‘high quality’ energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. Our offset meets strict sustainable development criteria as validated by independent UN accredited bodies. Gold Standard is also the only offset supported by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF.

For more information on the offset scheme go to www.emissionstatement.co.uk