Download Festival may have been playing catch up to other festivals in terms of the timing of their announcement this year – but they have just unleashed an almighty first announcement for the 2026 Download Festival Line Up!
Headlining this years’ annual Donington Park pilgrimage are nu metal legends Limp Bizkit, classic rock icons Guns N’ Roses and the reborn Linkin Park. Friday night at Download 2026 sees Limp Bizkit fulfil their destiny. Originally meant to headline the first Download in 2003, 23 years later it will finally come full circle for Limp Bizkit. Saturday sees the return of Guns N’ Roses to Donington for the first time since 2018. While some of the masses will flock to hear Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City and other classics, it’ll be interesting to see how the younger crowd Download has attracted in more recent times treats GnR. Sunday night, and arguably the most anticipated and expected headliner for this years’ Download – the reborn Linkin Park play Donington for the first time. With Linkin Park’s last Download performance their earth shattering run through Hybrid Theory in full in 2014, they have a lot to live up to. If their July 2025 Wembley Stadium show is anything to go by – they’ll be just fine.
The Download 2026 line up was announced at a glamourous launch party at London’s historic Barbican. The announcement was initially made through this short film, which you can check out below:
Away from the headliners, there’s a lot of great stuff across the line up. On the ‘big logo bands” on the festival poster, Bad Omens will be at Donington in 2026 to make good on the slot they had to cancel a couple of years ago. Download is going back to Horrorwood next year as Ice Nine Kills return to the festival, while Architects also return to follow up 2023’s main stage sub-headline slot. Whether you love hip hop, or even just know them from The Simpsons, Cyprus Hill making their Download debut is a big deal (we’d bet a few on them sub headlining under Limp Bizkit)
Also taking major slots on the line up are Pennsylvania power house rockers Halestorm, Florida metal favourites Trivium, Atlanta prog metal maestros Mastodon and Japanese metal kawaii sensations Babymetal. Not forgetting the fact that Blood Incantation are also making their Donington bow with their unique brand of space flavoured extreme metal.
Further down the line up there’s loads more to suit all tastes. From nu-metal meets pop punkers Magnolia Park and Buckinghamshire’s finest electro-post hardcore experts As Everything Unfolds to the Bangra metal of Bloodywood, UK Indie rock favourites Ash and nu metal veterans P.O.D, SNOT and Spineshank, theres a huge amount of variety on offer! The Letlive. farewell(?) Tour sees them dropping in on Download after sub-headlining 2000Trees earlier this year.
Oh, and KEANU REEVES is playing Download with his band Dogstar. One of the nicest famous dudes on the planet will be more than welcome to join the party at Donington in 2026.
The full list of bands announced to play Download Festival 2026 is as follows:
HEADLINERS:
LIMP BIZKIT
GUNS N’ ROSES
LINKIN PARK
ANKOR
ARCHITECTS
AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS
AS IT IS
ASH
BABYMETAL
BAD OMENS
BEHEMOTH
BLACK VEIL BRIDES
BLOOD INCANTATION
BLOODYWOOD
BOUNDARIES
BUSH
CATCH YOUR BREATH
CAVALERA
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
CYPRESS HILL
DECAPITATED
DIE SPITZ
DINOSAUR PILE-UP
DOGSTAR
DRAIN
DROWNING POOL
EGO KILL TALENT
ELDER
ELECTRIC CALLBOY
FEEDER
GATECREEPER
HALESTORM
HEADWRECK
HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD
HOLYWATR
ICE NINE KILLS
IMMINENCE
ivri
JAMES AND THE COLD GUN
KUBLAI KHAN TX
LAKE MALICE
LAKEVIEW
LANDMVRKS
LAST TRAIN
letlive.
LOWEN
MAGNOLIA PARK
MAMMOTH
MASTODON
MELROSE AVENUE
MOUTH CULTURE
NASTY
NATIVE JAMES
NEVERTEL
P.O.D
PALEFEACE SWISS
PENDULUM
PERIPHERY
PUSSYLIQUOR
RAIN CITY DRIVE
RETURN TO DUST
RØRY
SCENE QUEEN
SELF DECEPTION
SET IT OFF
SILENT PLANET
SLAY SQUAD
SLEEP THEORY
SNOT
SOCIAL DISTORTION
SOUTH ARCADE
SPINESHANK
SPITTING GLASS
STATIC-X
STORY OF THE YEAR
SWEET PILL
SWEET SAVAGE
TAILGUNNER
THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
THE PLOT IN YOU
THE PRETTY RECKLESS
THE PRETTY WILD
THORNHILL
THOSE DAMN CROWS
thrown
TOM MORELLO
TRIVIUM
TROPIC GOLD
TX2
unpeople
vianova
WAYSIDE
WE CAME AS ROMANS
ZERO 9:36
Download 2026 takes place at it’s usual location – the spiritual home of rock and metal in the UK, Donington Park, from the 10th to the 14th of June. Main arena is 12th – 14th, campsite is open from the 10th – 15th, District X entertainment all five days.
Tickets are on sale now and can be obtained from Ticketmaster! Please stay tuned to Rock Sins for further updates, features and all things Download as we get closer to the festival!
