This year’s festival season is upon us, and it wouldn’t be the same without fears of the whole thing being rained off.
This year’s Download Festival has only heightened fears of more dismal weather on the horizon. With Glastonbury 2024 just days away, the scenes from the rock and metal festival in Derbyshire painted a grim picture after weeks of unpredictable weather.
Numerous clips from the Donnington Park event have been circulating online, with future festival-goers now terrified about what future events have in store. One video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday (June 16) revealed the field was a mud bath with punters stood around trying to shelter under their ponchos.
“Festivals of the UK summer is here!” a voice can be heard saying in the video. Another X user shared her own video and said the scenes weren’t dissimilar to “the Somme in 1916”.
One X user responded to the post, which has already garnered over six million views, saying: “I hope to god this won’t be Glastonbury in just over a weeks time.”
Another person chimed in: “Camped at Reading 1992 and Glastonbury 2004 in weather like this,” adding that it “Makes the weekend 50% less enjoyable.”
A third chimed in: “My neighbour’s partner was there. In the end he came home Saturday afternoon as it was so horrible. Tickets cost so much but he couldn’t stand the mud! ” Meanwhile, a fourth exclaimed: “There is not a single music act in the world that would make me stay there id be straight home.”
As Sunday rolled around, Download Festival organisers were forced to delay performances as they battled with the quagmire conditions of the arena. Festival-goers reported “mud up to the knees” and some had no choice but to turn their cars into makeshift beds.
One distressed attendee vented on social media: “I got stuck in North Carpark for 9 hours overnight and had to sleep in my van.
“I had my hazard lights on for 3 hours. When someone finally came I was told that they’d send someone in the morning and left me on my own. This isn’t acceptable.”
Another disgruntled visitor remarked: “Because of the situation leaving last night, we aren’t coming back today, it just isn’t worth it, cars were getting stuck for hours with no help, no staff at ALL. The arena also a literal mud bath.”
Elsewhere on X, a Glastonbury fan account has been actively posting weather updates in anticipation of the festival, which kicks off on Wednesday (June 26th).
The Glasto Thingy tweeted a forecast snapshot, adding: “Don’t be put off by that rain symbol, when you open it up, there’s just a small chance in the morning (as we queue up), then it’s plain sailing. *I know, too far out, BBC, yada yada… but you’ve got to speculate!”.
A snapshot from the BBC’s Weather website suggests a rainy start to the day, followed by overcast skies. The mercury is expected to hit a high of 20C in the mid-afternoon on the festival’s opening day.