Download Festival to spotlight next generation of headliners with curated stage at The Great Escape 2026

Download Festival and Kerrang! Are set to make Brighton rock once again at The Great Escape 2026 next month, hosting a specially curated stage from Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 May. Packed with the wild and diverse performances fans have come to expect from the world’s greatest rock and metal festival, the stage will showcase TGE acts who are tipped for a bright future at Donington Park ahead of this summer’s DLXXIII.

Resident noisemakers set to appear throughout the week include Native James, Comastatic, Oversize, Frozemode, Eurotripp, Ally Nicholas, Heave Blood & Die, Mudrat and more between 6-10pm across three days of programming, which will bring Download face to face with Brighton fans at the festival for new music.

Kerrang! Presents The Download Stage at TGE sees the festival continuing to nurture new and alternative talent in rock music. Having been a pilgrimage for young rock and metal fans – many of whom went on to start bands and take the stage themselves – Download is, in its 23rd year, supporting the next generation of headliners via The Great Escape’s unrivalled network of support for independent artists and grassroots venues.

Synonymous with new music discovery and acting as a springboard for rising artists, The Great Escape is the festival for new music. Playing host to over 450 up-and-coming artists and hotly tipped talent across 35+ walkable venues, alongside the music industry-led TGE conference, the festival will kick off the 2026 season from 13–16 May in Brighton, England.

DLXXIII will see Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park headline, joined by the likes of Halestorm, Architects, A Day To Remember, Cypress Hill, Trivium, Bad Omens,Electric Callboy, BABYMETAL, Ice Nine Kills, Pendulum, The Pretty Reckless, Black Veil Brides, Behemoth, Daughtry, Mastodon, The All-American Rejects, Feeder, Scooter, and many more legends from the worlds of rock, metal, and all that’s in between across five days and various stages. Final remaining Download 2026 tickets on sale now: www.downloadfestival.co.uk.

For 45 years Kerrang! has been at the forefront of alternative music, first with the biggest-selling weekly rock magazine, and now with a global music platform that reaches millions of people a month. Rock, metal, hardcore, punk, emo, grunge, thrash, and everything in between, Kerrang! has been there for all of it, and continues to proudly fly the flag for the best new artists on the planet.