People heading to the annual Download Festival this weekend are being asked to allow plenty of time for their journeys, along with anyone travelling to East Midlands Airport or trying to access places around Donington Park, where the event is taking place. The event runs from Friday (June 14) to Sunday (June 16).
But many fans will start to arrive from this Wednesday (June 12) lunchtime when the campsites open officially and traffic is expected to be heavier in the area around Castle Donington from that time.
Festival ticket holders are being advised to follow event signage rather than rely on Sat Navs, and not assume the route or entry point they have used in previous years will be the same. There will be more parking fields than in previous years with an increased number of access gates and people will be able to scan a QR code on their parking passes for live updates on car park availability and capacity.
In addition, the pickup and drop-off points will not be in the same areas as the camping entrances to reduce congestion.
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National Highways has said it will be “dispatching extra traffic officer patrols and is working with the event organisers to keep the roads moving as smoothly as possible”.
A National Highways spokesman said: “The M1, A42, A453, A50 and A38 are expected to see significant increases in traffic, particularly when everyone arrives on the Wednesday and Thursday and again when they leave on either Sunday night or Monday morning.
“Anyone with a flight to catch at East Midlands Airport is advised to allow plenty of time for their journey, while other non-festival traffic may want to consider travelling at different times or using a different route.
“National Highways will use electronic message boards on nearby motorways to advise people of any delays. “
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