Headliners for Download XXIII announced - Limp Bizkit / Guns n' Roses / Linking Park
Download Festival, the greatest rock and metal festival of all time, returns for its molten hot 23rd edition, reborn and recharged in 2026 as DLXXIII. Announced today are three monumental headliners, with their only UK shows in 2026 - Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park – with over 90 more colossal names spanning the full spectrum of rock, metal, punk, emo, hardcore, alternative and classic rock. This year’s festival will take place on 10-14 June 2026 at the spiritual home of rock in Donington Park, Leicestershire.
Download XXIII Tickets are onsale now HERE.
Check out a short announcement video below:
In 2026, Download XXIII will host a trio of legendary headliners: nu-metal icons Limp Bizkit – headlining Download for the very first time - on Friday, hard rock royalty Guns N’ Roses on Saturday and the mighty Linkin Park performing at Download for the first time since the band reformed in 2024 with lead singer Emily Armstrong. With this holy trinity of headliners and a mammoth undercard of artists on the bill, Download makes a nod to its heritage and continues its unwavering commitment to delivering a fresh, groundbreaking line-up year after year, evolving to keep Download-goers of all ages happy.
Also announced today are UK and international heavyweights Bad Omens, Cypress Hill, Trivium, Halestorm, Electric Callboy, Pendulum, The All-American Rejects, Mastodon, BABYMETAL, Architects, Ice Nine Kills, Tom Morello, Black Veil Brides, Drowning Pool, Bush, Feeder, Periphery, Ash, The Pretty Reckless, letlive., Static-X, Spineshank, RØRY, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Magnolia Park, TX2, AS IT IS, Story Of The Year, Sleep Theory, Melrose Avenue, Those Damn Crows, P.O.D, Hollywood Undead, Scene Queen, Dogstar, We Came As Romans, Mammoth, Kublai Khan TX and so many more.
Nu-metal legends Limp Bizkit are set to headline at Download Festival for the very first time in their 31-year career. After dominating the crowd at Donington with their incendiary performance in 2024, they proved exactly why they deserve to be a Download headliner. With never-ending hits - including ‘Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)’, ‘Break Stuff’ and ‘My Generation’ – Limp Bizkit will be sure to blow the crowd away on Friday night and set the bar high for the rest of the weekend’s headliners.
Saturday headliner Guns N’ Roses need no introduction. They truly are rock royalty, having released their trail-blazing debut album ‘Appetite For Destruction’ in 1987 and never looking back. The icons have headlined Download twice before and have not graced the hallowed grounds of Donington since 2018. Their return in 2026 – 20 years after first headlining Download in 2006 - will be well and truly legendary.
Guns N’ Roses endure as the most dynamic, dangerous, and definitive American rock band in history to this day. Embedded in popular culture, their landmark diamond-selling 1987 opus, Appetite For Destruction, stands out as “the best-selling U.S. debut album ever” and “the 11th best-selling U.S. album of all time,” while their Not In This Lifetime… Tour (2016-2019) ranked as the “fourth-highest grossing concert tour of all time.” During 1991, Guns N’ Roses shook the world with the one-two punch of the 7x-platinum Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, clinching the top two spots of the Billboard 200 upon arrival. With total sales of 100 million units thus far, their catalogue also consists of G N’ R Lies (5x-platinum), The Spaghetti Incident? (platinum), Greatest Hits (5x-platinum), and Chinese Democracy (platinum). Not to mention, they are one of the most-streamed rock bands in the world with an average of 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Following the reunion of the century, they headlined Coachella and sold 5 million-plus tickets on the Not In This Lifetime… Tour. However, Guns N’ Roses never stop with more touring on the horizon in 2023 and other surprises—the “Nightrain” keeps rolling at full speed. Guns N’ Roses are Axl Rose (vocals, keyboards), Duff McKagan (bass), Slash (lead guitar), Dizzy Reed (keyboard), Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar), Isaac Carpenter (drums), and Melissa Reese (keyboard).
The festival’s grand finale will come at the hands of the gargantuan Linkin Park. The rock legends headlined Download with their original line-up four times between 2004 and 2014, but this will be their first time headlining the festival with their new lead singer Emily Armstrong since their reformation as a band in 2024. It is sure to be an incredibly poignant and powerful set with Emily Armstrong and Mike Shinoda at the helm.
The DLXXIII line-up was announced at a very special launch event at the Barbican this evening, where the worlds of fantasy, legend and rock and metal combined as the VIP audience witnessed the line-up unfold on an epic scale. The specially created short film premiered in the cinema at the Barbican and introduced The Apex Rings, created for our headliners by Download in conjunction with The Great Frog. The immersive launch included string quartets, fortune tellers and more, all giving a taste of the District X experience and what is to come for Download XXIII.
This is only the beginning for DLXXIII, with many more acts and surprises yet to be announced.
Book tickets now for Download XXIII HERE.
