Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot to headline Download Festival 2023
Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot have been announced as the headliners of next year’s Download Festival.
In celebration of the rock and metal festival’s 20th year, event organisers have extended it to four days (June 8-11) with four headline slots.
Metallica will perform two unique headline sets over the weekend with no songs repeated, on Thursday (June 8) and Saturday (June 10), while Bring Me The Horizon will perform on the Friday (June 9) and Slipknot on the Sunday (June 11).
Joining the headliners at Leicestershire’s Donington Park are: Evanescence, Parkway Drive, Disturbed, Pendulum, Architects, Ghost, The Distillers, Placebo, Alexisonfire, Asking Alexandria, Motionless In White, I Prevail, The Blackout (reunion), Fever 333, Nova Twins, Stray From The Path, Lorna Shore, Municipal Waste, and many more acts. See the full line-up poster below.
Tickets go on general sale this Thursday (November 10) at 10am GMT here. There is a pre-sale open now for Barclaycard card holders.
Metallica will return to Donington after more than a decade away. The band said in a statement: “We are next-level honoured to once again come back and partake in the Download shenanigans on the hallowed grounds of Castle Donington, which has an unparalleled place in rock history. On top of that, to be able to share our double show format with two completely unique sets with no repeat songs for the first time ever in the UK is way fuckin’ cool. Bring it on!!”
Bring Me The Horizon will top the bill at Download for the first time after years of working their way up the line-up since their debut performance there in 2006. Singer Oli Sykes said: “Download Festival was one of the first festivals I ever attended as a punter. It was our first amazing festival experience to play as a band, and now the fact that we are headlining such a prestigious event blows my mind. We can’t wait to bring a whole new sound and show for the Download audience.”
Meanwhile, Slipknot will play their fifth headline slot at the festival. Turntablist Sid Wilson said: “Download Festival! So many great memories, one of the most amazing crowds to play in front of, always an honour to share the bill with so many amazing bands, and of course, I’ll never miss the opportunity to play my homeland.”
Download Festival’s Andy Copping added: “This year marks a huge milestone for Download, celebrating the incredible 20 years of the festival is no small feat. We really wanted to up the ante for this special anniversary, adding an extra day for the fans to experience the unforgettable lineup, that once again brings together unparalleled talent from the rock music world back to Donington Park!”
The festival’s 2022 edition featured headline sets from Kiss, Biffy Clyro and Iron Maiden. Due to the COVID pandemic it was the first full-scale Download in three years, with 2020 seeing a smaller-scale ‘pilot’ event.
Speaking to NME earlier this year, Copping said that the 2023 headliners had already been booked. “It’s the first time I’ve booked all the headliners in advance…”
He added: “We’re way, way down the line – because next year is essentially our 20th year so we wanted to do something a little bit special. All I can say is that it will be very, very exciting.”
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Charlotte Krol
NME
