2009 Voted As The Greatest Download Festival

Earlier this week we asked the Kerrang! audience to vote for the best Download Festival of all time – and you responded in your thousands! From its beginnings as a two-day fest with just two stages in 2003 to the multi-stage extravaganza it is today, Download has taken many forms over the years. But which incarnation is your favourite? Well, we can now reveal that Download 2009 has been named the Greatest Download Festival Ever.

And it's pretty easy to see why when you look at that main stage. Faith No More's grandiose return as headliner, Limp Bizkit's first UK show in five years, Slipknot on explosive form and cementing themselves as festival legends, Pendulum proving they belong, plus a cracking 'classic rock Sunday' of Def Leppard, Whitesnake, ZZ Top and Journey.

Oh, and just the small matter of Bring Me The Horizon, Parkway Drive, Architects, A Day To Remember and Trivium spread across the weekend.

Here are the Top 10 Download Festivals according to your votes:

1. Download 2009 (Faith No More, Slipknot, Def Leppard)
2. Download 2018 (Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N' Roses, Ozzy Osbourne)
3. Download 2014 (Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Aerosmith)
4. Download 2019 (Def Leppard, Slipknot, Tool)
5. Download 2013 (Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Rammstein)
6. Download 2016 (Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden)
7. Download 2010 (AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Aerosmith)
8. Download 2012 (The Prodigy, Metallica, Black Sabbath)
9. Download 2006 (Tool, Metallica, Guns N' Roses)
10. Download 2017 (System Of A Down, Biffy Clyro, Aerosmith)

Download Festival 2020 goes virtual this weekend with over 15 hours of live performances on Download TV. Find out more on the Download website.