I knew that was going to go to Download 2023 while I was attending Download 2022. It had been a good 10 years since I had been to Download and I didn't realise how much I missed it. Getting to see loads of my favourite bands all in the same place, hanging out with my friends, enjoying the sunshine, being surrounded by like-minded people, seeing the effort some peopel go to with their outfits and make-up as well as the people who must of lost a bet because they look like a 3 year old dressed them haha.
Althought 2022 was the first time that I didn't camp at Download, I have issues with my hips and back so camping was definitly going to be a no no. We got an Airbnb instead which was nice as we could have hot showers every day and sleep in a proper bed.
My friends and I were talking about going to Download 2023 before we even left to drive home. We were thinking of doing VIP camping but that is super expensive and had to be paid in one go so that was another no no.
I was waiting for the first announcement when the legend that is Corey Taylor unofficially confirmed that Slipknot would be at Download so in my mind, it was a done deal. Slipknot will be there and so will I.
When the announcement came out, my favourite band Blind Channel were confirmed and my brain basically screamed "GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY!!" There was no way I was going to miss Blind Channel being at Download for the first time, plus, I haven't seen them a a festival before so it's going to be a whole new expierence for me.
At first I was going to go on my own and meet my friends up there as my husband, Sean, has some medical issues that caused him enough issues before so he said he was going to sit this one out. Then a week after all the weekend tickets sold out, he said he really wanted to go. Changed all my plans including the hotel, worked out how we were going to work everything out for him....... 2 weeks later after a day out that basically crippled Sean, he decided it would be better if he didn't go. This made me very upset as I wanted him there with me, but after a long chat, we thought it was the best thing to do. Luckily, my sister Fran agreed to come with me as she has never been to Download before and she lives a 15 minute drive from Download so everyone wins. Sean is still coming with me but he is going to be our taxi service to and from the festival.
I like to be well prepared for festivals so my packing started about 3 weeks before Download haha. I wanted to make sure that I had all the clothes I wanted to take. I also wanted to make sure that I had the right gear to mount my phone as I was going to use it to take the videos and pictures for my blog. I couldn't see anything on the restrictions about the stuff I was taking so I basically have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get it with it all.
I love dying my hair for gigs and festivals so I have gone pink and purple with a little splash of blue. It makes it easier to spot me in pictures and videos as well as being easy for my friends to find in a crowd haha.
We have our plan for getting wristbands, as I have a camping ticket because I couldn't get an arena only ticket, we are driving straight to Donington on Wednesday so I can go in and get my wristband and then go to Fran's. Then on Thursday, I will line up with Fran as she has an arena only ticket, get her sorted and then we go in. The first band I want to see aren't on until 4:40pm so we can take it easy, walk around, find people and check out some of the other bands that are on. Thursday is going to be a nice chill day haha.
The Download app is going to be a god send with notifications but I am wondering if it's still going to work during the festival as last year I had little to no signal so I'm going to set alarms on my phone for my favourites just to be on the safe side. Better to have 2 notifications then none at all and then missing a band I really want to see.
I am super excited, I just know this is going to be an awesome year at Download.
Wednesday 7th of June
Well, today can go and suck a big hairy sweaty ball sack. We set off mid morning as we weren't in a rush and all was fine until we got close to Donington and the traffic was horrendous. We ended up in very VERY slow moving traffic to get to Download, we moved just under a mile in an hour and half. I can't complain too much though as there were people on buses that did a mile in 3 hours.
We got into the camping car park, which was a massive MASSIVE field, and managed to drive all the way down to the camping queue which had hardly anyone there by the time we arrived. I went in, got my wristband and got back out in 15 minutes haha. It felt good to finally have it and get back out onto the road to my sister's house.
It was quite nice just being up there amougst the other Downloaders, I remember back in the day when we would camp and it would feel like forever dragging all our stuff from the van to the campsite, getting it all set up and then just chilling out. I wish my back and hip were better so I could camp.
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