Download Festival scraps on site cashless only payment system

Update: and Down cancel their planned Download performance

By Scott Williams | Published: Thu 10th Mar 2016

Download Festival 2016 - around the festival site
Photo credit: Luke Seagrave

Download Festival 2016

Friday 10th to Sunday 12th June 2016
Donington Park, Donington, Derbyshire, DE74 2RP, England MAP
£205 for five nights with camping
Daily capacity: 111,000

The cashless only payment system at Download Festival launched last year has been scrapped. This comes after the 'cashless' RFID payment system at last year's Download encountered some minor technical issues, affecting a few attendees, which resulted in extended queuing times at some information points.

This year festival goers will not only be able to pay for goods and services in the Festival site using a tag embedded with an RFID chip attached to a wristband, but can take cash with them should they want.

There will actually be various payment systems on offer including prepay (probably using a bPay wrist band), cash, credit and debit and Apple/google pay this time.

A statement from organisers says, "Last year’s RFID option was overall very successful and convenient for all those who it worked for. For those who it didn’t work 100% for the whole weekend, there was definitely more of a challenge. We are therefore moving to a cash, contactless, debit and credit card payment, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay options at all of the bars and merch stands and a number of the food stalls. The remainder of the food stalls and the funfair will take cash only."

In other line-up news Down have cancelled their planned Download performance alongside all their European dates.

Topping the bill on the opening night is Rammstein, Saturday headliner is Black Sabbath, and Sunday's headliner is Iron Maiden. Also announced are Korn, Deftones, Megadeth, Nightwish, Disturbed, Shinedown, Killswitch Engage,  Don Broco, Architects, Neck Deep, Tremonti, Gojira, Beartooth, Saxon, Ghost, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes , Billy Talent, Saxon, The Amity Affliction, Alien Ant Farm, Amon Amarth, Anti-flag, As Lions, Ashestoangels, Black Peaks, Bury Tomorrow, Cane Hill, Danko Jones, Electric Wizard, Escape The Fate, Good Tiger, Grand Magus, Graveyard, Heck, Hill Valley High, Jane's Addiction, Kadavar, Monster Truck, Muncie Girls, Municipal Waste, NoFX, One Ok Rock, Pallisades, Periphery, Reigning Days, Shvpes, Sixx:A.M., Slaves, Strange Bones, The King Is Blind, The Kenneths, Turbowolf, Wage War, Whiskey Myers, Zoax, Halestorm, Beartooth, Twin Atlantic, Atreyu, Attila, Skindred, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, TesseracT, Counting Days, Ho99o9, Milk Teeth, Dead!, Black Foxxes, Fort Hope, Rival Sons, All Time Low, Glassjaw, The Wildhearts, Wierds, Royal Republic, Scorpion Child , Pennywise, The Shrine, Scattering Ashes, The Temperance Movement, Buck & Evans, Devil You Know, The Raven Age, Napalm Death, Breaking Benjamin, Havok, Delain, Skillet, and the silent film accompanied by a rock band - Gutterdammerung. In total around 150 acts appear over five stages over the three days of the festival.

For the line-up details as available see the Download line-up page.

buy tickets now >

Tickets are priced as follows:
Day Tickets: £75
Weekend Arena Only: £170
3 Night Camping: £195
5 Night Camping: £205.




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