In Pictures: The faces of Download Pilot 2021

This weekend, the British rock and metal community took part in the vital next step toward our return to live music. Taking over Donington Park, the scaled down Download Festival – dubbed Download Pilot – featured 40 of the UK's best and brightest bands, alongside 10,000 fans (who had to take both a lateral flow and PCR test prior to the event, and commit to another PCR test after) who weren't required to social distance or wear masks. In fact, the only thing they had to do was Have A Bloody Good Time – moshing included!

We spoke to a handful of Downloaders about their first taste of normality in 18 months, and their first rock festival since summer 2019. "It didn’t feel strange at all," Michelle from Manchester told us. "I did a little cry because I was so happy to have it back."

But who actually went to Download Pilot? Here's a gallery of just some of the great and good who danced in the mud, drank in the sun and welcomed live rock music back in the greatest weekend of the past year-and-a-half.

Can you spot yourself amongst this lovely lot?

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