We are a week (and a day) away from Download Festival 2026’s arena opening!
It’s a big festival with a sell-out crowd expected and three huge headliners. Here we take a look at who’s headlining this year.
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit’s return to Download Festival comes full circle in 2026, as the American nu metal giants finally take their place at the top of the main stage bill – which they were due to do on the first Download way back in 2003.
Formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1994, the band – fronted by Fred Durst alongside Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, John Otto and DJ Lethal – became one of the most commercially successful acts of their era, selling over 40 million records worldwide.
Known for Durst’s confrontational vocal style and Borland’s experimental guitar work, Limp Bizkit defined the late-90s nu metal boom with albums such as Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000). Despite controversies, including their infamous Woodstock ’99 performance, their influence has endured.
Their relationship with Download has been intermittent but notable. After debuting on the main stage in 2009, they returned to headline the second stage in 2013 and later secured a main stage sub-headline slot in 2024. A planned headline appearance in 2023 fell through, making this year’s booking particularly significant.
Now, with a revitalised live reputation and a loyal fanbase, Limp Bizkit’s long-awaited Download headline slot cements their legacy as one of nu metal’s defining acts.
Guns N’ Roses
Twenty years on from their first Donington headliner, Guns N’ Roses are back — and this time, they mean business.
The legendary Los Angeles hard rock outfit will take to the Apex Stage on Saturday, June 13, as part of Download Festival 2026 (DLXXIII), marking their third time topping the bill at the spiritual home of rock.
It’s a milestone worth celebrating. When Axl, Slash and Duff first commanded that Donington stage in 2006, the atmosphere was electric but undeniably fraught — a post-classic line-up era comeback that divided opinion yet cemented itself as a historic moment in the festival’s story. Izzy Stradlin even appeared as a surprise guest, giving old-school fans a rare treat.
By the time they returned in 2018 on the back of the hugely successful “Not in This Lifetime” reunion tour – one of the highest-grossing tours in Billboard Boxscore history – the band had been transformed into a well-oiled stadium machine, delivering a three-hour, 28-song set that ended in a fireworks finale.
Now, with Axl, Slash and Duff once again united, Kerrang! reports the 2026 set is expected to run for over three hours on the Apex Stage.
Linkin Park
Linkin Park will headline Download Festival 2026 on Sunday, continuing one of the most significant artist–festival relationships in Donington’s modern era. Their latest top‑slot appearance follows a run of previous headline sets that has seen the band grow in step with the festival itself.
The group first topped the bill in 2004, returning in 2007 and then again in 2011 and 2014. Across those shows, Linkin Park’s story at Download charts their progression from nu‑metal breakthrough act to established festival headliners, capable of commanding the main stage and drawing some of the weekend’s largest crowds.
Each appearance has reflected a different phase of their career, with setlists expanding from early singles to cover a wider cross‑section of their catalogue. That evolution has helped cement Linkin Park as one of Download’s defining 21st century bands.
Their 2026 headline performance – the first with new vocalist Emily Armstrong – adds a new chapter to that history, reinforcing both the band’s enduring impact on heavy and alternative music and Download’s role as a platform for acts that have shaped the sound of modern rock.