Selecting sets to see while negotiating the crowd and mud to get there on time and in a good spot to see the band was a fine art. There were a vast number of bands playing on numerous stages each day. The massive and rather chilly crowd! People everywhere! This means there was somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 people there on the saturday. Although it was very cold on the saturday, the rains kept away and eventually the sun came out (one extreme to the other). Sonisphere was literally a sea of mud and I had no gum boots back then! Luckily they are very well prepared at Download and put straw all over the grounds to help deal with the mud (it works very well). The grounds were thick with mud but nowhere near as bad as the Sonisphere Festival I attended in Switzerland in 2010 (also to see Metallica along with the “Big 4” and many other top metal acts).

Normal attire is jeans and a black metal shirt (I did have one of those on under all the layers of clothing)! Multiple layers of fast drying clothing and green gum boots (I looked like an East Midlands farmer!). All went smoothly with no delays which was great! My best early morning farmer impersonation at a metal festival!ĭue to the extremes of weather I was dressed in the strangest garb I have ever worn to a metal concert. I decided not to go on the Friday, bought a pair of Gum Boots (Aussie for Wellington’s, rubber boots etc.) in preparation for the mud and headed off to Donington from Nottingham first by train then by shuttle bus. This meant the festival grounds became a giant mud pit. Donington Castle Ten Years of Metal Mayhem!Įven with all those people it never felt too crowded but the Friday of the event was hit by heavy rain, long delays for traffic and bands (some didn’t even arrive at all!). This is the ultimate Heavy Metal and Hard Rock festival in the UK! It runs for 3 days and headlining acts included Metallica and Black Sabbath.

In June 2012 I attended the 10th anniversary Download Festival in Donington, UK (at the foot of Donington Castle and right near the Donington Raceway).

Download jack black metallica