cashless system has problems at Download

Download Festival 2015

Friday 12th to Sunday 14th June 2015
Donington Park, Donington, Derbyshire, DE74 2RP, England MAP
£215 for five nights with camping

Daily capacity: 111,000

This weekend's Download Festival which happens at Donington Park over the weekend of Friday 12th to Sunday 14th June 2015 has gone totally cashless and many attendees are reporting teething problems with the system.

Every single person on site, including staff, children, RIP and VIP customers needs a dog tag to get around the festival and/or buy something at the stalls. Cash will not be accepted at any bar, food stall, market stall, fun fair ride or merchandise stand. The tags are also used to grant attendees access to different areas of the site.

Andrew Dowdall has put this video (among others) online on Twitter showing the queues on site for a system which promised to eradicate queues:

Overnight attendees reported problems in topping up, with systems crashing and traders unable to take money for items, with those who registered in the last 48 hours having problems seeing anything in their dog tag accounts. Some people who topped up in the last 24 hours are not seeing anything register yet on their dog tags.

As attendees were asked not to bring cash and so there's no fall-back or work around able to be put in place. Organisers are confident the problems with the system will be resolved before the main three days of the festival start.

This year Download is headlined by Slipknot, Muse and Kiss, main support Judas Priest, Faith No More and Mötley Crüe, and such rock and metal megastars Black Stone Cherry, Enter Shikari, Marilyn Manson, Five Finger Death Punch, A Day To Remember, Slash and Miles Kennedy, Black Veil Brides, Lamb of God, Rise Against, Billy Idol, L7, Andrew W.K, In Flames, Testament, Parkway Drive, Hollywood Undead, Clutch, Body Count, Eagles of Death Metal, Godsmack, Mallory Knox, Motionless in White, Madball, Every Time I Die, Dragonforce, Backyard Babies, Crown the Empire, Northlane and H.E.A.T..

Plus Fightstar, A, Apocalyptica, The Cavalera Conspiracy, Modestep,The Sword, Sylosis, The Pink Slips, Aaron Keylock, Beartooth, Butcher Babies, Hey! Hello, Purson, Empire, The One Hundred, Iconic Eye, God Damn, Heart Of A Coward, Hyena, Allusondrugs, Roam, Dolomite Minor, Decade, Sirens in the Delta, Love Zombies, Trash Boat, Code Orange, Crobot, Blackberry Smoke, American Fangs, The Dead Daisies, New Years Day, Pop Evil , Ghost Town, In Hearts Wake, Insomnium, Rival State, and Counterparts.

Expect around 150 acts across five stages for the three days of the festival, at Donington Park, the UK's spiritual home of rock!

buy tickets now >

Prices are £180 for a weekend arena ticket, £205 for 3 nights with camping, and £215 for 5 nights with camping. Day tickets are priced at £75 for any day. Plus booking fees.

discuss this news on the Festival Forums