Revellers driving to Donington Park for the Download Festival are being urged to allow extra time for journeys as heavy congestion is expected to continue into the early evening. Tens of thousands of rock fans are expected at the venue this weekend for the five day festival which is marking its 20th anniversary.
An additional day of music has been included this year and a sell-out crowd is expected, which has meant huge numbers of festival goers arriving at the site on Wednesday, June 6. But severe delays are being experienced on Wednesday, June 7, on the M1, A50, A42, A38 and A453.
National Highways has dispatched extra traffic officer patrols and free recovery is being provided to help keep the roads moving as smoothly as possible. Festival goers are urged to follow the signposted routes and not their sat navs to get to the venue and their allocated camp sites as smoothly as possible.
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Festival organisers have announced on their social media page that the West Car Park is full for general parking. They have urged revellers to follow local Download signage for alternate car parks.
Camping opened on Wednesday, June 7, but the live music starts a day earlier this year, on Thursday rather than Friday, so there is just one ‘arrival’ day before the event gets under way. National Highways Network Resilience Planner, Phil Shaw, said: “As festival goers get within a few miles of Donington Park they must follow the road signs and the instructions from the organisers rather than their sat navs to get on the correct route to the correct car park.
“Today is expected to be the busiest day for arrivals but additional campers are also arriving tomorrow and some 20,000 day ticket holders are expected on each of the four days of live music. Our advice to all motorists is allow extra time for journeys in that area over the weekend, particularly if you are catching a flight from East Midlands Airport.”
Donington Park is located next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24.
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