The wait is over! Your first line up announcement for the Download 20th Anniversary is right here – and organisers have announced OVER 60 acts for you, including your headliners!

BRING ME THE HORIZON, SLIPKNOT and METALLICA will headline in 2023, with the latter playing TWO completely unique sets on Thursday and Saturday!

Plus ARCHITECTS, EVANESCENCE, DISTURBED, PLACEBO, PARKWAY DRIVE, GHOST and many more acts will appear across the weekend!

The legendary METALLICA will be returning to Download for the first time since 2012. And they’ve got a special treat in store – TWO unique sets with NO repeats!

They’ll be headlining both the Thursday and Saturday nights during the 4-Day 20th Anniversary extravaganza. If you’re a METALLICA fan, we’re sure that Nothing Else Matters at this point, but there’s a lot more in store…

One of the UK’s biggest metal bands, Download is stoked to welcome BRING ME THE HORIZON to headline Download for the first time next year. They’ve given us moshpit classics like ‘Can You Feel My Heart’, ‘Throne’ and ‘Shadow Moses’, and with new music in the works, organisers have got a feeling this set could be one of their most epic shows yet.

If there’s any band that belongs at the 20th anniversary of Download, it’s SLIPKNOT. They’re true Donington veterans at this point, and with the release of their latest album ‘The End, So Far’, they’re showing no signs of slowing down. The time is now to start warming up for those pits – we’ll see you in there.

UK metalcore titans ARCHITECTS will also be making a welcome return to Download for the first time since 2013. Fresh off the back of their latest record ‘the classic symptoms of a broken spirit’, the band have been going strength to strength.

The mighty DISTURBED will be heading to Donington, and with over 17 million records sold worldwide, this is sure to be a hit-filled set. All together now: OH-WAH-AH-AH-AH!

PLACEBO are one of the biggest modern UK rock bands, and we’re stoked to welcome them to Download for the very first time! They released their eighth debut album ‘Never Let Me Go’ earlier this year to critical acclaim, so expect to hear some new tracks.

Grammy winners EVANESCENCE performed at the first ever Download back in 2023, so it’s only fitting that they join us for the 20th anniversary! We can’t wait to rock out to anthems like ‘Bring Me To Life’ and ‘Going Under’. Known for their theatrical and eccentric live shows, GHOST are one band not to be missed. Their fifth album ‘IMPERA’ was released earlier this year and has received rave reviews. ‘Hunter’s Moon’ will definitely feature in Download Dog’s Spotify Wrapped this year.

After their explosive performance at Download 2018 – there was a rotating drumkit that was ON FIRE – PARKWAY DRIVE are returning in 2023. We couldn’t be more hyped. Bring on the pyro!

Canadian post-hardcore heavyweights ALEXISONFIRE have won more awards than you can shake a stick at. This year they released ‘Otherness’, their first album since 2009, and it was definitely worth the wait! Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to hold your colour – electro rock icons PENDULUM are back and they’re coming to Donington. These guys need to be seen to be believed. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed with their live show. Symphonic metal fans will be stoked that WITHIN TEMPTATION are returning to Download. One of the biggest names in the genre, the Dutch band haven’t played Donington for nearly 8 years, so be sure to give them a warm Download welcome.

Tickets are on sale from 10am Thursday 10th November from our friends at Gigantic Tickets here >>>

Check out who else will be playing at Download next year on the poster below….. And there are more to come!!