UK’s Download Festival 2020 Cancelled

Not that everyone didn’t see this coming from a galaxy away, but it’s now officially official: this year’s edition of the UK’s Download Festival has been cancelled.

The fest was set to take place from June 12 – 14, and would have featured Iron Maiden, System of a Down, Kiss, Korn, Deftones, Gojira, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Sepultura, Periphery, and scores of other other artists.

Here’s the cancellation announcement from the festival’s organizers:

“Download Festival will no longer be taking place this year.

“We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and it’s become clear that it just isn’t possible for the 2020 festival to go ahead. This decision hasn’t been taken lightly and we’re beyond disappointed, we extend our heartfelt apologies to all of you – we really did try to make this work.

“Please rest assured we will be back next year. Now, more than ever, we need the Download spirit to thrive and offer support to those that need it most. We’ll do our best to put together an amazing line up for you in 2021 and can’t wait to see you all then. Thank you, as ever, for your continued support.

“We are working closely with our ticketing partners now and they will be in touch very soon to process your refund, or, if you prefer, you can retain your ticket and carry it over to next year. Look out for an e-mail from your ticketing agent very soon and please only contact them if you have not been contacted after 5 days as they are very busy at this time.”