Download Madrid on hiatus

The organisers of Download Festival Madrid have announced that the event will not be returning for 2020, while the team works on remodelling the event.

The festival, an expansion of Live Nation’s Download brand, has taken place at the Caja Mágica, Madrid, for the past three years. The inaugural edition of the event “exceeded expectations” in 2017, attracting over 100,000 fans.

The 2019 edition of Download Madrid took place from 28 to 29 June, with performances from Slipknot, Scorpions, Tool and Sabaton.

The Download Madrid organisers shared the news via the following statement:

“We would have liked this statement to be the announcement of the fourth edition of Download Festival Madrid.

“However, as we haven’t achieved all the conditions that we believe a festival of this nature requires, we have chosen to take some time out in which we wish to look for a way to replace it and find a new direction. For this reason, we are confirming that Download Festival Madrid will not be held in 2020.

“The team that has made each of these three editions possible  is already working on the new future of Download Festival Madrid”

“During this time, we will evaluate different options, with the aim of offering the best experience possible, which is what the 250,000 metal and rock fans that have already passed through three previous editions of Download Madrid deserve.

“Over the past three years, Download Festival Madrid has positioned itself on the main festival circuit in our country, with memorable performances from [artists] such as Guns n’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, Avenged Sevenfold, Marilyn Manson, the return of Tool to the capital after 13 years, the return of Slipknot, System Of A Down, Scorpions, Judas Priest and, possibly the performance we will remember with the most affection, that of Linkin Park, one of the band’s last shows with Chester Bennington as frontman.

“The team that has made each of these three editions possible  is already working on the new future of Download Festival Madrid.”

The flagship Download Festival has taken place at Donington Park, UK, since 2003.  Download has since spawned sister events in Australia, Japan and France. The Paris edition of Download, which launchd in 2016, went on a hiatus in 2019. The planned 2020 return of the festival was cancelled last month, due to work on nearby railway infrastructure.

Tickets for the 2020 edition of Download’s flagship UK event, which will take place from 12 to 14 June with headliners Kiss, Iron Maiden and System Of A Down, are available here.

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