What happened at the 2024 Download festival? Food stalls shut down as hundreds fall ill

The 2024 Download Festival was held from June 14, 2024, to June 16, 2024, at Donnington Park in East Midlands (England), UK. During the festival more than 500 people were taken ill from food poisoning, leading to a shutdown of two food stalls and the launch of a Live Nation investigation in cooperation with North West Leicestershire District Council.

Speaking to LeicestershireLive, Paul Sanders, head of community services, stated:

"We worked with the event organiser to investigate two food vendors, both of which were closed by the event organiser over the course of the weekend. We are aware of reports of people feeling unwell and will continue to investigate. Anyone continuing to feel unwell following the Download Festival should contact their GP in the first instance."

The two vendors have not been named publicly, with investigations still ongoing. Among those who fell ill was the lead singer of The Raiders, Sean Smith, who tweeted about his illness on June 16, 2024. The singer shared:

"Got food poisoning. Been sick ALL night."

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More on 2024 Download festival food poisoning and other issues

The food poisoning at Download Festival started with one-off cases before eventually, a pattern began to emerge for the medics onsite, with people falling ill from the food, according to the North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC). This led to the aforementioned closure of the stalls and the subsequent Live Nation investigation.

Download Festival also faced the issue of extreme weather this year, with heavy storms battering the venue, turning the stages and their grounds into mudfields. The organizers also warned attendees regarding road safety via a post on their official X page:

Download Festival 2024 featured a stellar lineup, with artists from Queens of The Stone Ages to Pantera and Sum 41, among others. The lineup is listed below:

• Queens of Stone Age
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Fall Out Boy
• Baby Metal
• Bad Omens
• Royal Blood
• Pantera
• The Offspring
• Machine Head
• While She Sleeps
• Sum 41
• Billy Talent
• The Used
• Bowling For Soup
• Black Dahlia Murder
• Biohazard
• 311
• Alien Weaponry
• All Them Witches
• Alpha Wolf
• Alt Black Era
• Atreyu
• Bleed From Within
• Brand Of Sacrifice
• Calva Louise
• Celestial Sanctuary
• Crystal Lake
• Deathbyromy
• Defects
• Delilah Bon
• Dream State
• Dying Fetus
• Dying Wish
• Elvana
• Era
• Fit For A King
• Frozemode
• Gel
• Holding Absence
• Hot Wax
• Karnivool
• Kelsy Karter and the Heroines
• Imminence
• Knife Bride
• Lord Of The Lost
• Make Them Suffer
• Missio
• Noahfinnce
• Oxymorrons
• Pest Control
• Pinkshift
• Rory
• Royal And The Serpent
• Scene Queen
• Scowl
• Shadow Of Intent
• Silverstein
• Slaughter To Prevail
• Speed
• Storm
• The Blues Stones
• The Callous Daoboys
• Them Damn Crows
• Tigercub
• Until I Wake
• Underside
• Urne
• Vukovi
• Zulu.
• Halocene
• Charlotte Sands
• Hannabie
• Harper
• Heriot
• Hoobastank

Download Festival is moving ahead with its 2025 edition, with the festival announcing the next edition's headline partner to be Liquid Death. The event next year will be held from June 13, 2025, to June 15, 2025, at the same venue and early tickets are already on sale, with some categories being sold out as well.

Camping tickets for the 2025 edition are priced at £299.00 per person for 5-night camping and £568.00 per person for Rock Retreat camping. Weekend non-camping tickets are £255 per adult and £115.00 per child.

The tickets can be purchased via the approved Ticket Agents listed on the festival's website. These agents are Ticketmaster, Big Green Coach, The Ticket Factory, Gigantic, Eventim, and VIP Nation.