The organisers are actively encouraging families and I don't blame them
Looking back, in all the many years I have been covering the Download Festival - which was in its 23rd year in 2026 - I have never seen so many families at the event particularly with young children - potentially under school age.
With this year's festival coming to a close on Sunday , a quick reflection on events makes me realise that from the moment I stepped onto the Donington Park site this year, it was full of families. Quite soon after arriving, I encountered a young family from London queuing with four-year-old Asa - who insisted quite forcibly he was four-and-a-half - queuing at the merchandise tent for an extra cuddly toy, I became very aware of vast numbers of children and young teens.
In fact, one boy passed by bearing a sash which said "fifth time here" and another child posed happily for photos as he proudly wore a fifth birthday badge and hat. Little girls were dressed like their mums in denim and lace and with stars on their faces, looking for all the world like miniature versions of festival-goers.
And even the teenagers, normally down-in the-mouth at being out with mum and dad, looked actually happy to be there - even with their families. Fortunately, most of the youngsters seemed to be wearing ear protectors which is a sensible precaution not readily available to parents who took their children to concerts and festivals years ago.
Increasingly, over the past few years the Download Festivals organisers have been making it easier for families to attend the annual event by providing family campsites and also family entertainment including a skatepark and rock school for the kids. I can just imagine the sessions in school this coming week, when the children are invited to talk about what they spent their weekend doing - you couldn't make it up.
And actually at the other end of the scale, there was also a noticeably larger contingent of older festival-goers - perhaps forced out of retirement from festivals and concerts by the thought of seeing an also ageing Axl Rose and Guns n' Roses. Most of them will have been fans from the start of the band and their biggest hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s and may never have seen them, so this was a chance to catch up.
The wide range of ages at the festival prompted festival director Jess Shields to remark that the event had become "multi-generational" and she said she was pleased that families felt confident enough to bring their children along. I think I probably draw the line at bringing a tiny baby - and I did see one of those - but I am sure attending events providing they are not exposed to the more unseemly side of people's actions and swearing - could be a useful experience for children although not everyone will agree.
The good weather - after an initial damp start - added to the overall relaxed and chilled atmosphere. of the past few days. Not too hot that people made themselves ill and not too cold they also made themselves ill. And probably I found the festival one of the most chilled regarding people's actions and attitudes for many a year. People on their own, in family groups, as couples or just with friends were made to feel welcome.
I think that while the organisers deliver music as diverse as Five , Limp Bizkit and Gun n' Roses, then really increasingly diverse age ranges will be attracted. And yes, maybe Download Festival has evolved sufficiently to give everyone something they want that welcomes people from nine to 90 - and either side of this - and rather than asking what happened to gold old Monsters of Rock and the rock days, we should see the festival as a force for good in uniting people and not dividing them.
Certainly, the organisers could well be encouraging the festival goers of tomorrow in encouraging today's youngsters to attend.
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