Road closures in place for Download traffic

The three-day event is being headlined by Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn

Temporary road closures have been put in place to try to prevent fans heading to Download festival from cutting through residential areas.

Gates to campsites at Donington Park, near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, opened on Wednesday, ahead of the three-day event over the weekend.

Festival organisers said they had been working with highways bosses to try to avoid disruption, with up to 75,000 rock fans expected to attend to see acts including headliners Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn.

Leicestershire County Council said it hoped the restrictions would reduce the impact of festival traffic on nearby residents.

A spokesperson for the authority said large signs had been placed on some residential roads heavily used by festival traffic in the past.

"The aim is to keep the traffic on the main routes to Download and out of residential communities," they said.

"If we find people are not paying attention to the restrictions, stewards can cone them off while still allowing resident and business access."

The restricted roads are:

• Park Lane, Castle Donington

• Grimes Gate, Diseworth

• The Green, Diseworth

• Slade Lane, near Donington Park

• Forty Foot Lane, near Donington Park

• Derby Road, Melbourne

• Packhorse Road, Melbourne

• Main Street, Breedon on the Hill

• Gelscoe Lane, off the A42

Under the event traffic management plan, a temporary 30mph speed limit has been placed on Melbourne Road, between Slade Lane and Walton Hill.

Further temporary 40mph limits are in place on Hill Top, in Castle Donington, and on the A453 east of the DHL roundabout.

Thousands of people arriving at the festival site in 2023 led to "unprecedented" congestion on roads, including the M1, A42, A50 and A453.

National Highways said a new travel plan, implemented last year to try to get vehicles off the roads and into car parks more quickly, had "worked well".

Festival-goers have been urged to use public transport where possible.

Organisers said they hoped to avoid heavy disruption experienced in recent years

Passengers flying from East Midlands Airport (EMA) while the festival takes place have been urged to allow extra time to get to travel, with the roads nearby expected to be busier than usual.

An EMA spokesperson said 466 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart during the festival and airlines should alert passengers to any "potential delays".

Lauren Turner, head of airfield operations, said: "We start planning for the arrival of Download in October and have had plenty of meetings with the organisers to make sure the festival doesn't impact on our operations or our customers.

"Last year, the new arrangements for getting people to and from the festival site worked really well so with the same arrangements in place this year, we're hoping things will run smoothly again.

"But we advise our customers travelling to the airport while the festival is on to allow some extra time."

She added it was illegal to fly drones near the airport, as in previous years drone flights associated with the festival had caused delays.