Green Day and Sex Pistols the highlights for a father and son at their fourth Download Festival
Fenland Citizen editor Jeremy Ransome and his son Alfie visited Download Festival at the weekend. Here are their thoughts…
When I first listened to the Sex Pistols as a 14-year-old, they were already history, a fading nightmare for the establishment.
So to be able to see them at Download Festival, with my son who loves ‘alternative’ music as much as I do, was not even a dream come true - I simply had never thought it would happen.
This was the fourth time Alfie, 22, and I had visited the ‘spiritual home of rock’ since 2019, and on this occasion we also saw our favourite band - Green Day. I watched, he moshed, and together we made wonderful memories.
And that’s what the Castle Donington festival is all about - making memories. Whether you spend all day at the main stage, visit the tents, flit from venue to venue or spend time at the bars, camp sites and sundry other attractions, the long weekend is a really special occasion.
And the people are so nice, everyone seems to pack the best versions of themselves with their tents and sleeping bags and many performers spread a message of peace, unity and inclusion. Parts of the arena are obviously rammed, and I must have bumped into 100 people over four days, but was met only with apologies, never rebukes. Not one.
Download has forged a reputation as one, if not the, UK’s most friendly festivals and the 75,000-plus crowd is made up of fathers and sons like us, families, friends and even lone music fans who quickly meet kindred spirits.
The weather was wonderful this year, we never had to queue more than ten minutes to eat or drink and, importantly, the toilets were kept in very good order!
The earliest arrivals come when the festival opens on Wednesday, with fun, music-based events and meet-ups taking place in ’The Village’ that day and Thursday, before the main festival starts in the arena on Friday morning, with the final acts playing on Sunday night, before people leave before noon on Monday.
Alf and I rolled up around noon on Thursday, and after quickly putting up our pop-up tents in the guest campsite - there are several sites, including upgrades and quieter, family ones - wandered into The Village.
There, we ate, walked around the various stalls and fairground rides before watching heavy-traditional Irish band The Scratch kick the weekend off with an energetic set in The Dogtooth tent.
We then enjoyed a couple of live music-based game shows before I went back to the campsite around 9.30pm and Alfie stayed on to watch novelty act The Vengaboys, who drew a huge crowd to The Dogtooth.
We’d pitched separate tents next to each other rather than share, so the ‘young man’ didn’t wake up the ‘old fella’ when he got back, and we both were up reasonably early the next morning to have breakfast - we had snacks with us just for that meal - and wander over for the arena opening at noon.
The next three days followed a similar pattern. We’d go to the arena and either watch bands together or go our separate ways to enjoy acts we wanted to see before meeting up at landmarks, such as one of the bars (of course!), the big wheel or a distinctive sign or poster.
We’d generally have an afternoon and evening meal together from one of the dozens of food stalls, which catered for every taste and diet going.
I particularly enjoyed Brazilian punk singer Karen Dio and Glasgow indie rockers Dead Pony in the Avalanche tent on Friday, before seeing Californian acts Weezer and the wonderful Green Day on the main Apex Stage that evening. Japanese metalcore outfits SiM and Crossfaith entertained Alf.
It only rained twice all weekend, and one small downpour happened at the exact moment as Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong sang “Here Comes The Rain Again” from their 2004 hit ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’. Someone said to me the next day: “He’s a rock God. Of course, he made it rain!”
Highlights for both of us on Saturday were American singer-songwriter Poppy, Lowestoft rockers The Darkness and legendary punks the Sex Pistols. They may be lacking the late Sid Vicious and the controversial John Lydon, but the power trio of drummer Paul Cook, guitarist Steve Jones and bass player Glen Matlock helped write all their classic songs, such as Pretty Vacant, Anarchy in the UK and God Save The Queen.
And in Frank Carter, they have a singer every bit as powerful and charismatic as Lydon, but a lot more likeable too. They smashed it.
Saturday headliners were London rock band Sleep Token. I’m not keen on them and Alf also took an early night after listening to their first few songs.
Sunday was a strange one for us as Alfie had loads he wanted to see and I was indifferent. But finding new acts is one of the joys of festivals, and I loved Canadian heavy metallers Spiritbox - one of my son’s favourites - American covers band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, who do punk versions of favourite hits, and indie rockers House of Protection.
Alf also enjoyed these acts, plus Sunday headliners Korn, Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah, Ukrainian rockers Jinjer and US thrash band Power Trip, allegedly a favourite of Prince Harry.
The weekend was as wonderful as ever, and went quicker than our visits in 2019, 2023 and last year’s soggy and muddy ‘Drownload’, probably because the lovely weather and improved facilities made everything so easy. If you like hard rock, heavy metal and punk, this friendly festival is calling out for you. Why not give it a go in 2026?
Download 2025
More than 75,000 fans descended on Donington Park for an abundance of unforgettable moments across five sun-drenched days.
This year’s festival marked a new chapter, with all three headliners – Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn – taking the top slot for the first time.
Our favourite acts (as chosen by Jeremy and Alfie Ransome)
1- Green Day
2- Sex Pistols
3- Crossfaith
4- House of Protection
5- Karen Dio
6- Spiritbox
7- SiM
8- Dead Pony
9- Poppy
10- Korn