Motorists advised to plan journey for Download Festival
Music lovers heading to Download this weekend are advised to plan their journey.
Highways England is advising music lovers heading to the Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire this weekend to plan their journey and allow plenty of time to get to the event.
Road users not heading to the festival are being advised to seek alternative routes to avoid delays.
About 80,000 people are expected at the three-day festival, being staged from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 June, and surrounding roads are likely to be very busy.
Gates to the campsite opened at midday today (Wednesday 8 June) to allow an expected 60,000 or more campers to spread their arrival times. Up to 10,000 visitors are expected to buy day tickets.
Sandie Higginbotham, Highways England’s Emergency Planning Officer for the East Midlands, said:
Major roads and motorways in the area, including the M1, A42, A50 and A453, are likely to be busy.
All routes to the festival will be well signposted, but people travelling in the area should plan their journey in advance.
Festival-goers can check the traffic conditions using our Highways England travel app, or follow us on Twitter @HighwaysEMIDS to check the latest traffic updates before you set out.
Donington Park is located next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24. Anyone travelling to the airport should allow plenty of extra travel time for their journey.
Highways England will use electronic message boards on surrounding motorways to advise people of any delays. Extra Traffic Officers are also being deployed for the duration, both in event control and around junction 24 of the M1, to assist motorists, clear incidents quickly and keep traffic moving.
Highways England provides live traffic information via its website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile platforms, such as Android and iPhone apps. Further information is available from the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
General enquiries
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Media enquiries
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.