Download proves Donington Park credentials

This weekend’s Download music festival – hailed by Radio One’s Newsbeat as the best yet in its seven-year history at Donington Park* – has proved the venue’s credentials for successfully hosting crowds of almost 100,000 people.

A public transport plan, similar to the one that is due to be launched for next year’s first British Formula One event at the Leicestershire parkland circuit, was put into practice at the three-day sun-drenched event. The visitors – comparable in terms of numbers to a British Grand Prix attendance figure – were well catered for, with almost two thirds of event-goers choosing to camp on site.

Despite that, aerial photographs taken of the site over the weekend show a lack of congestion and traffic problems. Visitors were all effectively directed to off-site car parks to reduce the impact of the event on residents living close to the Leicestershire venue.

Download festival organiser John Probyn was delighted with the success of the event, which saw the attendance figures almost double compared with last year. “Music lovers voted with their feet this year and helped to provide a fantastic atmosphere to accompany the brilliant line-up of bands that we had organised. We’ve already had positive feedback, so the challenge now is to host an even better event in 2011, which we’ve already started planning.”

Donington Park Chief Executive, Simon Gillett, echoed the sentiments, saying: “An event like Download helps us to show just how versatile Donington Park is as a venue. We worked hard with John and the rest of the team to provide the best facilities possible and we believe that all of that work has paid off. We always said that we would show people what we’re capable of rather than talk about it and this event has helped us to do just that.”

Inspector Chris Brown, Commander of North West Leicestershire local policing unit, said; “The policing of Download was a success this year, the atmosphere was great and we’ve received a lot of very positive comments about our policing style on our Facebook account and through the online fans forums. The success of the event is down to the detailed and organised planning which went into it by the organisers, Live Nation. Safety and security at events which attract large crowds are paramount and, as a result, Download passed off without incident. We are still waiting for the final crime figures but we are hoping they will show a reduction compared to last year.”

Tickets for all forthcoming 2009 events at Donington Park are available now by visiting donington-park.co.uk For further information on tickets and available transport options for the British Formula One Grand Prix, register your interest at share-our-vision.com.

* taken from an online review of the event at bbc.co.uk/newsbeat