Download festival resurrected as government pilot

This summer's Download music festival will take place after all, despite having been called off in March.

The three-day event is being resurrected in June as a government test event to examine how Covid-19 transmission takes place in crowds.

The capacity will be significantly reduced - down from 111,000 to just 10,000 - but organisers say "moshing will be allowed".

Headliners will include Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Enter Shikari.

Bullet For My Valentine is also taking top billing, with Frank Turner, Creeper, While She Sleeps, Twin Atlantic, Yonaka, Employed to Serve and Neck Deep also in the line-up.

Download got the go-ahead on 26 May following a number of smaller-scale test events.

Just 15 cases of Covid-19 emerged among 58,000 people who took part in events ranging from the Brit Awards to the FA Cup final.

According to figures reported in the Evening Standard:

• There were just four cases of Covid across the entire 17 days of the World Snooker Championships

• No cases emerged from the Brit Awards, even though the audience could mingle without masks

• There were only two cases among 5,900 pop-lovers at an outdoor music festival in Liverpool, and none at the reduced-capacity football at Wembley Stadium

• Nine cases were found among 6,000 revellers who packed into a nightclub in Liverpool over two days without masks

Government sources told BBC health editor Hugh Pym that the figures - which reflect initial results - were correct.

But the exercise is not complete and other events are being monitored, with a final report due soon.

• No detectable spread of Covid after pilot events

• Covid gig experiment brings the good times back

• Festivals 2021: Which ones are still going ahead?

The Download pilot will take place in Donington Park, Leicestershire, from 18-20 June.

Under the current lockdown easing schedule, the government is due to announce on 14 June whether step four of its roadmap, when all remaining restrictions are due to be lifted, is still on track for 21 June.

There will be no day tickets for the scaled-back Download, with all attendees expected to camp for the duration of the event. They will also be required to take Covid-19 tests before and after the festival, and provide proof of a negative test to gain entry.

However, they will not be socially distanced or required to wear face coverings once on site.

Tickets will go on sale on 1 June, priced at £120. Priority will be given to fans who had tickets for the original, cancelled event.

Organisers said the festival would "provide additional evidence for government, event organisers, and consumers on the logistical and practical considerations of reopening events safely, including multi-day events".

Melvin Benn, who runs the festival and also organised the earlier concert in Liverpool, said he was "delighted" to be working towards the reactivation of the live music scene.

"This massive next step will help us understand and study the safe return of large-scale festivals with no social distancing or facemasks over a full weekend," he said in a statement.

"The return of the full festival experience [is something] we have all been waiting for and a much needed return to work for musicians, backstage crew, caterers and many more that form part of the UK's exemplary live music industry."

A full-scale Download festival has already been announced for 2022, with Biffy Clyro, Iron Maiden and Kiss already confirmed as headliners.