National Highways advice for rock fans heading to Download
With tens of thousands of rock fans heading to Donington Park in the East Midlands for the annual Download Festival next week, National Highways is urging people to allow plenty of time for their journeys.
The event runs from Friday 14 June to Sunday 16 June with camping opening from lunchtime on Wednesday 12 June.
Ticket holders are being advised to follow event signage rather than rely on satnavs, and not assume the route or entry point they have used in previous years will be the same.
There will be more parking fields than in previous years with an increased number of access gates and people will be able to scan a QR code on their parking passes for live updates on car park availability and capacity.
In addition, the pickup and drop off points will not be in the same areas as the camping entrances to reduce congestion.
Headlining this year’s festival are Queens of the Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold. Around 75,000 people are expected to attend.
National Highways will be dispatching extra traffic officer patrols and is working with the event organisers to keep the roads moving as smoothly as possible.
Donington Park is located next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24.
The M1, A42, A453, A50 and A38 are expected to see significant increases in traffic, particularly when everyone arrives on the Wednesday and Thursday and again when they leave on either Sunday night or Monday morning.
Anyone with a flight to catch at East Midlands Airport is advised to allow plenty of time for their journey, while other non-festival traffic may want to consider travelling at different times or using a different route.
National Highways will use electronic message boards on nearby motorways to advise people of any delays.
For live traffic updates follow the @HighwaysEMIDS Twitter feed. The National Highways 24/7 customer contact centre team can also provide up-to-the minute information on 0300 123 5000.
Notes to Editors
National Highways is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.
Real-time traffic information for England’s motorways and major A roads is available via the Traffic England website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps. Local Twitter services are also available.
For further information please contact National Highways' press office (24hrs) on 0844 693 1448 and select the most appropriate option:
Option 1: National enquiries (9am to 5.30pm) and out of hours for urgent enquiriesOption 2: North West (9am to 5.30pm)Option 3: Yorkshire and North East (9am to 5.30pm)Option 4: West Midlands (9am to 5.30pm)Option 5: East Midlands (9am to 5.30pm)Option 6: East (9am to 5.30pm)Option 7: South East (9am to 5.30pm)Option 8: South West (9am to 5.30pm)
