Download Festival promises “multiple secret sets” for 2025

6 March, 2025

Atmosphere at the end of the last night of Download

Download Festival has confirmed that there will be “multiple secret sets” coming at the 2025 edition.

The metal festival will return to Donington Park in Leicestershire, between June 13-15, and this year will mark the 22nd instalment. It will see Green Day, Sleep Token and KoRn perform as headliners

Now, in the latest newsletter, organisers have revealed that there will be some surprises planned for this year, including “multiple” unexpected performances that are already in the works.

The update came in the form of a new graphic shared in the update, which saw a man reading a newspaper that had the headline “Multiple secret sets confirmed for Download XXII”. At time of writing, little else is known about how many surprise gigs are planned, nor which artists may be the most likely to take to the stage.

Secret sets are by no means a new addition to the Donnington festival. In the past, fans have been caught off-guard by unexpected performances from the likes of Enter Shikari, Black Stone Cherry, Bullet For My Valentine and even Metallica. The thrash icons surprised punters with a show back at the very first Download in 2003.

Last year saw festival organisers confirm another secret gig happening at the 2024 edition, and this later turned out to be Parkway Drive, who took to the intimate Dogtooth Stage for a surprise appearance.

The first wave of artists – including all three headliners – was announced at the end of 2024, and others included in the initial bill were Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Jimmy Eat World, Poppy, Loathe, Jerry Cantrell, McFly Within Temptation, Eagles Of Death Metal, The Darkness, Spiritbox, Meshuggah, Steel Panther, Cradle Of Filth and Alien Ant Farm.

Another batch of artists joining the 2025 line-up was then confirmed last month, with new names including the likes of Rise Against, Hatebreed, Kids In Glass Houses, Opeth, Myles Kennedy, Shinedown, AWOLNATION, Power Trip, Palaye Royale, Municipal Waste, Crossfaith and more.

Just days later, organisers shared the day splits, with Green Day, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Rise Against, Boston Manor, McFly, Opeth and Myles Kennedy set for the opening night.

Sleep Token will headline day two, alongside sets from The Darkness, Shinedown, Poppy, Sex Pistols with Frank Carter, Cradle Of Filth and more, and the final day will be closed out by Korn, Meshuggah, Spiritbox, Bullet For My Valentine, Jerry Cantrell and others.

Check out the full split in the new poster above, and buy any remaining tickets here.

At the end of last year, festival organiser Andy Copping spoke to NME in a new interview and opened up about the importance of creating a platform for new talent. “I’ve always wanted to do that, and you can see it in how we’ve been developing the other stages like the Dogtooth stage and the Avalanche,” he said.

Andy Copping speaks at the Download Festival Launch 2025
Andy Copping speaks at the Download Festival Launch 2025. CREDIT: Kate Green/Getty Images

“For us, it’s about giving bands the opportunity to grow. We’ve got the platform and we want to be sending a message to those guys like ‘Come and play. We believe in you and you’ve got a great opportunity here.’ Thankfully, for the most part, these bands do step up and they do deliver.”

In 2024, Download was headlined by Queens Of The Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold, and NME gave it four stars, writing: “At first glance, Download 2024 seemed to be marred by a range of factors that could have signalled its downfall – even festival boss Andy Copping admitted that it was the ‘hardest year’ to secure a line-up and the team approached over ‘21 bands’ to find headliners.

“Pair that with the threat of boycott in retaliation against the Barclays sponsorship and news that this year could be the wettest in a century, and the hopes of it coming out smoothly began to waver. Yet, against the odds the festival delivers one of its most promising editions in recent memory, and proves that it is one of the main events leading the way when it comes to creating opportunities for the next generation of headliners.”

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