Fans Leaving Download Festival Early Because Of 'Biblical' Rain And Mud

Festival-goers are being forced to abandon their pitches at Download festival after the whole site turned into one gigantic mud bath.

People who have spent nearly £200 on a ticket to the rock festival have been left with little choice but to abandon hope and leave the festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire after the weather left the whole area soaked and slopp

Those who remain have dubbed the festival 'Drownload' or 'Brownload' festival. Gallows humour is great, isn't it?

Well, that's the risk that you take when booking tickets to a camping festival in the UK, isn't it? Even if it is in the middle of June.

One person who decided to pack it up and pack it in was Samantha Gibben. She told The Metro: "We had a perfectly watertight tent. Nothing was leaking.

"But left because of the mud. It's that bad less than a day in. I'll never survive. My hips were dislocating from slipping on the mud as we walked in even with wellies. I can't handle it."

Another attendee said that they had forked over £600 in total for their festival experience, but they had to pack it in as a result of the horrendous weather that has been in place across much of the UK for the entire week.

They said: "We travelled home last night, got in at 4am... gutted is an understatement for how I feel about leaving.

"We couldn't have afforded a hotel, we couldn't afford to drive home and then back up today.

"We wanted to save ourselves, our clothes, our belongings before they got drenched and ruined. We only had a single skin tent (our fault completely) which honestly didn't help but I've seen that even double skin tents have been having issues."

Download Festival themselves tweeted: "Amazing that all of you got in and set up despite the Biblical rain we had! No one is tougher than you guys."

It does seem as if that is the case, too. Most of the hardy folk that turn out to the festival are actually sticking around.

On Twitter, one said: "Yeah I may be caked in mud, but i'm having a cracking time."

Those that do stay will see headliners Def Leppard, Slipknot, and Tool rock the main stage, as well as other acts such as Slash, Die Antwoord, and Smashing Pumpkins.

Let's hope that this dreadful drizzle pisses off rather than pissing them wet through all weekend. It would be better for us all.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter

Topics: UK News, Music, UK Entertainment

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim