Shropshire Star

Drownload: Rock fans leave Download Festival before it starts due to rain and mud

Heavy rain and mud has seen rock fans abandon Download Festival before it has even started.

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Mud and rain batter revellers at Download Festival. Picture from: Twitter/@Jimnik88

Campers began arriving at Donnington Park on Wednesday, with some taking to social media to post about the wet conditions of the festival site.

Reports have included pictures of the muddy fields, as well as music fans saying they were leaving early due to the "biblical" mud.

One festival goer said she left the festival because of the thick mud caused by the downpours.

Samantha Gibben told MailOnline:“We had a perfectly watertight tent. Nothing was leaking. But left because of the mud. It's that bad less than a day in.

“I'll never survive. My hips were dislocating from slipping on the mud as we walked in even with wellies. I can't handle it.”

The three-day music festival begins today and will see performances from the likes of Def Leppard, Slipknot, Tool, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Die Antwoord, Smashing Pumpkins and more.

One music fan said she spent £600 on the trip but had to head back home due to the weather.

Festival attendee Kelly Dawson told NME: “So we travelled home last night, we got in at 4am. Gutted is an understatement for how I feel about leaving.

"We couldn’t have afforded a hotel, we couldn’t afford to drive home and then back up today.

"We made the very difficult decision to leave. And to all those who have made the same decision, I’m so sorry you felt the same way.

"We wanted to save ourselves, our clothes, our belongings before they got drenched and ruined.

“We only had a single skin tent (our fault completely) which honestly didn’t help but I’ve seen that even double skin tents have been having issues.”

Other have posted that despite the adverse weather, they will still be enjoying the weekend event.

"Apparently it’s ‘Drownload’ ! Nahhh....it’s awesome !! Mud and rain ain’t gonna stop this party!," one tweeted.

"Who cares about the rain?This place is awesome!," another user agreed.

One user added: "It’s not all doom and gloom (and mud) here, everyone’s chipper!...GO PINK CAMPSITE!"

"@DownloadFest No muds stopping me rocking out 🤟 #DownloadFestival #DL19," another posted.

Travel disruption has also plagued the festival, with representatives tweeting their thanks to fans making their way to the site.

The post on Thursday said: "Hey Downloaders! Gosh. Yesterday was tough.

"Amazing that all of you here got in and set up despite the bibilical rain we had.

"A big thank you to all of you for keeping up the amazing Download spirit. No one is tougher than you guys."

Arena gates open at 12pm today to mark the start of the live music and entertainment at the festival.

For more information on Download Festival, click here.