🇬🇧 Donington Park, United Kingdom

Does It Rain at Download Festival?

Across roughly 15 years of records at the site, rain falls on about 100% of Download days, averaging 3.2mm a day.

The short answer

100%

of days see 1mm+

3.2 mm

average per day

High

mud risk

Wet days are common enough that boots are a sensible default rather than an over-reaction, especially in the camping fields.

Rain day by day

DayRainHighWeather score
Fri 12 Jun4.0 mm18°C82%
Sat 13 Jun3.5 mm18°C85%
Sun 14 Jun2.1 mm19°C91%

The wettest festival day on average is Fri 12 Jun at 4.0mm; the driest is Sun 14 Jun at 2.1mm. Over the main days that adds up to roughly 9.6mm.

What rain actually does to Download

Donington's clay-and-grass campgrounds are notorious for turning into a swamp — Download 2007 and 2019 are remembered as much for the mud as the music. Wellies and a waterproof are non-negotiable, and the lack of natural shelter on the campsites means tents take a beating in wind and rain.

If the forecast turns wet

  • Boots over trainers, and a spare pair of shoes sealed in a bag.
  • Rain jacket for walking, poncho for standing in a crowd with a backpack.
  • Pitch on the high side of the field, never in a dip, and use a groundsheet.
  • Dry bags for phone, power bank, tickets and one full change of clothes.

How we know

These numbers come from the Open-Meteo historical reanalysis at the festival's coordinates, averaged day by day over about 15 years. They describe a typical edition, not the one you're going to — for the live picture, the Download forecast page updates twice a day once the event is inside the forecast window.