For 24 years, it has remained the UK Mecca for Rock & Metal music – . As fans from across the globe get ready to make their annual pilgrimage to the sacred grounds of Donington Park, tickets have been flying out, with Download XXIV now officially the festival’s fastest-selling edition ever. But as European festival line-ups begin to steadily get revealed for next summer, the big question remains – who can fans expect to see performing at Donington Park in 2027? Well with the first names for Download XXIV set to be revealed on Thursday 12th November, we at CLASH dug into online fan theories, analysed touring schedules and scraped the internet for evidence, to bring you this: our final line-up predictions for Download 2027…
Of all the names floating around for potential Download 2027 headliners, pop-punk legends Blink-182 seem the most nailed. Not only are the beloved Mark, Tom & Travis already playing a host of European festivals around that time already (Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Rock For People and Graspop to name a few), but they also have a clear gap in their schedule for the Friday night at Download.
Additionally, Download organisers have hinted that there will be a band headlining this year that have never played the festival before, which incredibly is the case for Blink-182 who have never performed at Donington Park. And with their contemporaries like Green Day and Fall Out Boy having also headlined in recent years, marking a steady shift towards more pop-punk bands topping the bill, it seems the stars have aligned and Blink-182 will make their Download debut in 2027. Bring on 100,000 strong singing “WHERE ARE YOUUU?” in unison!
They are arguably one of the biggest metal bands in the world right now and ever since their triumphant set at Download’s 20th Anniversary in 2023 – a set many online have called the best headline show in the festival’s history – festival goers have been calling for Sheffield’s Bring Me The Horizon to return to the hallowed grounds of Donington to headline once again.
Having played a bunch of European rock festivals in 2026 already and now also booked to headline Rock Am Ring & Rock Im Park in Germany the week before Download, it seems the time has finally come for Bring Me The Horizon to headline once again. Should they get announced, which seems likely at this point, this will be an extremely popular booking!
Now when it comes to the final headliner slot, this is where things start to look a little bit murkier. One band that has been tipped over the course of the last year is the mighty Foo Fighters, with Dave Grohl’s outfit another one to have never previously played Download, which feels long overdue.
Adding further fuel to the fire, Dave Grohl himself said in an interview with Kerrang last February that “Maybe It’s Time” the band finally made their Donington Park debut. While the band haven’t announced any European dates for 2027 thus far, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to see Download land a band like Foo Fighters, as a bit of a festival exclusive.
While we’re not certain this one will happen in 2027, there is a good chance Foo Fighters play the festival in the coming years. When they finally do headline, it will no doubt have been worth the wait.
If the final headline slot isn’t taken by Foo Fighters, then our money is on metal icons Evanescence to step up instead. Coming off the back of a massive sold-out UK arena tour, it feels now is the time for the American rockers to headline the main Apex stage, having previously packed out the festival’s Opus stage when they closed it back in 2023. They’re another band who are also doing the European festival circuit in 2027, having already been announced for Rock Am Ring & Rock Im Park, as well as Graspop Metal Meeting.
However, the biggest case for Evanescence to headline in 2027 follows Emily Armstrong of Linkin Park making history at Download earlier this year, as the first female frontwoman to headline the festival. This was a huge progressive moment for the festival and if the organisers wish to keep that strong momentum going, there is no woman more deserving to be the next to have the honour than Amy Lee of Evanescence.
Whether they are headlining themselves or playing just before the headliners, we reckon you can expect to see Evanescence at Donington in 2027 either way.
However, the line-up isn’t just about the headliners, and there are a few other bands we’re confident you’ll find at Donington Park in 2027. There has been a lot of discourse in recent years about a bigger representation for hardcore music at Download, with those underground bands typically kept off the bill and passed over to Outbreak festival instead.
As festival goers demand more hardcore bands at Download, there’s no better place for them to start than by booking the most mainstream hardcore band on the planet right now – Turnstile. The Baltimore outfit are everywhere at the minute and are already touring a bunch of European rock festivals next year. With this in mind, we can already picture them going on before Blink-182 on that Friday night to help get the party started.
Another band we’re pretty sure will be at Download in some capacity is genre-bending quartet, Enter Shikari. The St Albans boys have shocked the world twice in 2026 already – firstly by dropping new album ‘LOSE YOUR SELF’ completely out the blue, and then secondly by announcing an indefinite hiatus following the end of their current touring schedule in 2027.
With them calling it a day, at least for the time being, you must assume the Download favourites will stop by Donington Park for one last hurrah. After all, Download was the first festival they played way back in the mid-00s, and with their debut album ‘Take To The Skies’ also turning 20 next year, Donington feels like a good place for a full circle farewell during their final festival season.
With all these more modern Rock & Metal bands expected to turn up to Donington, you must think that Download would also book a band for the older metalheads as well, in the spirit of festival tradition. With Def Leppard ruling themselves out of this slot due to a huge US & UK tour around the time of Download, our money is on Californian Glam-Metal outfit Mötley Crüe being booked instead.
Following a huge Las Vegas residency in early 2027, the band then fly out for a bunch of already announced European festival dates around the time of Download, including Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium and Tons of Rock in Norway. With this in mind, we’d be very surprised if the Download organisers haven’t booked them for an Opus stage headline or main Apex stage slot.
No, you haven’t gone mad or started reading a completely different article. You see, a few years ago the thought of a pop group like S Club playing Download festival would be sacrilege. However, as the festival has evolved and so has their audience, the old-school metal gatekeepers have slowly moved on and now there is a place for a bit of cheesy pop in amongst the heavier stuff on the bill.
Over the last few years, the festival has seen the likes of Vengaboys, McFly, 5ive, Scooter and even Dick & Dom play slots in either the District X Campsite area or indeed the Main Arena. When looking at who could be the next booking of this ilk, S Club seems a likely candidate. Not only are they from that same early-00s period as those other nostalgic pop acts who have been booked in recent times, but they have also just announced an October 2027 UK arena tour.
Ahead of that big run of shows, what better way to blow off the performing cobwebs than by blasting out the hits to a tent full of moshers at Donington Park over the summer. Come on Download – reach for the stars and make it happen!
If you want more clues as to who might appear at Download in 2027, then other European Festival line-ups are a good place to start your investigation. For instance, we also fully expect to see Australian metalcore outfit Parkway Drive, Canadian rockers Billy Talent and Californian alt-metal legends Faith No More also turn up at Donington next year based on their respective touring schedules. Additionally, post-hardcore outfit Pierce The Veil are also already joining Blink-182 for a bunch of European shows, so don’t be surprised if they make the trip over too.
For now though, enjoy the further speculation, all the wild fan theories and hair-pulling online discussion – it’s not long now till all will finally be revealed.
The first Download Festival line-up announcement will take place at 9pm on Thursday 12th November. Final Late Bird packages before the next price rise are available here: www.downloadfestival.co.uk