List of Donington Park Festivals

Since 1980 when rock music was revived in Britain by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,Fact|date=March 2007 Donington Park has played host to many music festivals. The venue, located near Donington Castle in central England has built itself a reputation as the 'spiritual home of British hard rock'. Though other festivals have taken place there, the two most notable were annual offerings of Monsters of Rock and Download Festival.

List of Festivals

* 1980 - 1988: Monsters of Rock
* 1989: No Festivals
* 1990 - 1992: Monsters of Rock
* 1993: No Festivals
* 1994: Monsters of Rock
* 1995: Metallica Escape from the Studio '95
* 1996: Monsters of Rock
* 1997 - 2000: No Festivals
* 2001: Rock and Blues Festival, Stereophonics A Day at the Races
* 2002: Ozzfest
* 2003 - 2004: Download Festival
* 2005: Download Festival, Ozzfest Download
* 2006 - present: Download Festival, Twisted Realm @ Download

= Donington Park Festival Timeline (with headliners) =
* 1931: Donington Park opened
* 1939: Donington Park closed
* 1977: Donington Park re-opened
* 1931 - 1979: No Festivals
* Monsters of Rock 16/08/1980: Rainbow - first Donington Park festival, organised by Rainbow
* Monsters of Rock 22/08/1981: AC/DC
* Monsters of Rock 21/08/1982: Status Quo
* Monsters of Rock 19/08/1983: Whitesnake
* Monsters of Rock 25/08/1984: AC/DC - AC/DC become first band to headline Donington twice
* Monsters of Rock 17/08/1985: ZZ Top
* Monsters of Rock 16/08/1986: Ozzy Osbourne
* Monsters of Rock 22/08/1987: Bon Jovi
* Monsters of Rock 20/08/1988: Iron Maiden - Only year someone died at Donington, largest ever festival
* 1989: No Festival - first year without a Donington Park festival since beginning of venue
* Monsters of Rock 18/08/1990: Whitesnake
* Monsters of Rock 17/08/1991: AC/DC - AC/DC become first band to headline Donington three times, only band in Monsters of Rock era
* Monsters of Rock 22/08/1992: Iron Maiden
* 1993: No Festival - Monsters of Rock planned but cancelled
* Monsters of Rock 04/06/1994: Aerosmith (Second stage: The Wildhearts) - First year with multiple stages
* Metallica - Escape from the Studio '95 26/08/1995: Metallica - First non-Monsters of Rock festival
* Monsters of Rock 17/08/1996: Ozzy Osbourne and KISS (Kerrang stage: KoЯn) - First joint-headline slot. Last Monsters of Rock
* 1997: No Festival - Monsters of Rock planned but cancelled
* 1998-2000: No Festivals - No Monsters of Rock planned, annual event draws to a close
* Rock and Blues Festival 22/06/2001: Hawkwind
* Rock and Blues Festival 23/06/2001: UFO and Uli Jon Roth - First two-day festival at Donington
* Stereophonics' A Day at the Races 14/07/2001: Stereophonics - First event at Donington Park not to feature major hard rock presence
* Ozzfest 2002 UK 25/05/2002: Ozzy Osbourne (Second stage: Hundred Reasons)
* Download Festival 31/05/2003: Iron Maiden (Scuzz stage: A) - First Download,
* Download Festival 01/06/2003: AudioSlave (Scuzz stage: NOFX)
* Download Festival 05/06/2004: Linkin Park (Snickers Stage: Pennywise, Barfly stage: Peaches)
* Download Festival 06/06/2004: Metallica (Snickers stage: HIM, Barfly stage: Suicide Girls)
* Download Festival 10/06/2005: Feeder (Snickers stage: Billy Idol, Napster stage: Napalm Death)
* Download Festival 11/06/2005: Black Sabbath (Snickers stage: In Flames, Napster stage: Helmet) - Ozzfest Download. With Black Sabbath, Ozzy becomes the first person to headline Donington four times
* Download Festival 12/06/2005: System of a Down (Snickers stage: Motörhead, Napster stage: Therapy? - First three day festival
* Twisted Realm @ Download 08/06/2006: Aural Demolition - First free event at Donington, creation of The Village
* Download Festival 09/06/2006: Tool (Snickers stage: The All American Rejects, Gibson/MySpace stage: Ginger and the Sonic Circus, Snickers Bowl stage: Gay for Johnny Depp)
* Download Festival 10/06/2006: Metallica (Snickers stage: Alter Bridge, Gibson/MySpace stage: Killing Joke, Snickers Bowl stage: Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.) - Metallica first band to headline Download twice
* Download Festival 11/06/2006: Guns N' Roses (Snickers stage: The Prodigy, Gibson/MySpace stage: Sick of it All, Snickers Bowl stage: Viking Skull) - Best selling group of festival headliners for the year
* Twisted Realm @ Download 07/06/2007: Scumface and Encrusted Lovepump
* Download Festival 08/06/2007: My Chemical Romance (Dimebag Darrell stage: KoЯn, Tuborg stage: Suicidal Tendencies)
* Download Festival 09/06/2007: Linkin Park (Dimebag Darrell stage: Mötley Crüe, Tuborg stage: Head Automatica)
* Download Festival 10/06/2007: Iron Maiden (Dimebag Darrell stage: Billy Talent, Tuborg stage: Reel Big Fish) - Record setting fourth appearance by the same band as a headline act (discounting Ozzy for performing in two separate groups for his appearances)
* Download Festival 13/06/2008: Kiss on Main Stage, other headliners on other stages to be confirmed
* Download Festival 14/06/2008: Offspring on Main Stage, other headliners on other stages to be confirmed
* Download Festival 15/06/2008: Lostprophets on Other Stage, Offspring on Tuborg stage and KISS on Main stage

After Download Festival 2007, Iron Maiden's four appearances at Donington Park will be a new record for most headline appearances at the venue - four. At present the record of three is held by Maiden, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica. However it should be noted that Ozzy Osbourne also appeared in Black Sabbath in 2005 and that Ozzfest/Escape from the Studio '95 were not part of the main Monsters of Rock/Download festival series.

= Annual Festivals =

Monsters of Rock: 1980 - 1997

"See main article, Monsters of Rock"

Monsters of Rock was the first major festival event at Donington Park. It was regular, with few cancellations throughout its run. In 1988, two fans died in a crush due to in part to the vast (100 000 - largest ever) number of people attending. This led to the festival's first cancellation in 1989. Cancellation happened again in 1993, and in 1997. Plans for converting the one day festival into a three day one had been set out for 1997 before its cancellation, however.

After huge success in the 1980s, the early 1990s faced a decline in hard rock. Difficulty to find a powerful headline act was the reason for the 1993 cancellation and end of the festival itself. In 1995, without a major act willing to play the festival was going to cancel. Metallica were persuaded to play, but the festival was to be called 'Escape from the Studio '95', with major contributions to the organisation by the band in exchange for their services. Whether the festival counts as a Monsters of Rock show is sometimes debated but it is generally considered one.

Though in 2006 another festival by the name of Monsters of Rock was held in Britain (headlined by Deep Purple), it was at Milton Keynes Bowl, not Donington. AC/DC hold the record for most headline performances at the event - three of the sixteen lead acts at Monsters of Rock festivals were AC/DC sets. Metallica played more often (four times) but only once as headliner.

List of Monsters of Rock headline acts/total bands

* 1980: Rainbow - 8 bands
* 1981: AC/DC - 7 bands
* 1982: Status Quo - 7 bands
* 1983: Whitesnake - 7 bands
* 1984: AC/DC - 8 bands
* 1985: ZZ Top - 7 bands
* 1986: Ozzy Osbourne - 7 bands
* 1987: Bon Jovi - 7 bands
* 1988: Iron Maiden - 8 bands
* 1989: Festival Cancelled
* 1990: Whitesnake - 5 bands
* 1991: AC/DC - 5 bands
* 1992: Iron Maiden - 6 bands
* 1993: Festival Cancelled
* 1994: Aerosmith - 12 bands
* 1995: Metallica - 9 bands
* 1996: Ozzy Osbourne and KISS - 13 bands
* 1997: Festival Cancelled
* 1998: No plans for the future of Monsters of Rock in Donington

Metallica Escape from the Studio '95

"See main articles, Monsters of Rock and Metallica"

Taking the place of a Monsters of Rock 1995 was a Metallica organised festival as part of their 'Escape from the Studio '95' tour. The show was considered the official Monsters of Rock 1995 show by bands playing, including Metallica. If the organisers of Monsters of Rock had not been struggling to find a headliner for the festival, they would not have allowed Metallica to present the festival as its own and controlled the event so much. In 1996, Monsters of Rock would return - for the last time. Their 'Escape from the Studio '06' festival tour also covered the venue, arriving at the Download Festival though this was not a Metallica organised festival.

List of Metallica Escape from the Studio '95 headline acts/total bands

* 1995 Headline act: Metallica - 9 bands (Warrior Soul, Corrosion of Conformity, Machine Head, White Zombie, Slayer, Slash's Snakepit, Skid Row, Therapy?, Metallica)

Download Festival 2003 - present

"See main article, Download Festival"

After the decline of British hard rock music in the early 90s in the face of grunge rock, and with the late 90s rise of synthetic pop music further hampering the genre, Monsters of Rock had been forced to stop. By 2003 however, hard rock was growing again and Live Nation decided to resurrect the Monsters of Rock of old, under a new name - Download Festival. The festival was a runaway success, and lasted followed 1997's plans to extend Monsters of Rock to two days rather than the single day Monsters of Rock always had. The festival continues to this day.

In 2005, when the Ozzfest tour decided to perform at Donington it picked a Saturday in the middle of Download Festival. Following this, Download has always been a three day event. See notes on Ozzfest below.

List of Download Festival headline acts/total bands

* 2003: Iron Maiden (Saturday) and Audioslave (Sunday) - 55 bands
* 2004: Linkin Park (Saturday) and Metallica (Sunday) - 72 bands
* 2005: Feeder (Friday), Black Sabbath (Saturday - Ozzfest), System of a Down (Sunday) - 105 bands (inc. Ozzfest)
* 2006: Tool (Friday), Metallica (Saturday), Guns N' Roses (Sunday) - 105 bands
* 2007: My Chemical Romance (Friday), Linkin Park (Saturday), Iron Maiden (Sunday) - 98 bands
* 2008: Kiss (Friday), The Offspring (Saturday), Lost Prophets (Sunday) - 99 bands

The sixteen headline slots used so far have been held by thirteen bands, with Iron Maiden, Linkin Park and Metallica all having headlined the show twice.

Twisted Realm @ Download 2006 - present

A guerrilla festival that first occurred in 2006, Twisted Realm happens in the Download Festival camp the day before the festival itself (the Download camp opens a few days before the stages are opened). It features unsigned acoustic acts. Aural Demolition began with stating they would perform, and managed to gather a following interested in joining them. It attracted over 200 viewers. For 2007, the mini-festival happened again, with 12 acts, including a secret one. No event is scheduled for 2008, but it is expected to return in the future.

List of Twisted Realm @ Download headline acts/total bands

* 2006: Aural Demolition - 8 bands
* 2007: Scumface and Encrusted Lovepump - 12 bands

= Other Donington Festivals =

Stereophonics A Day at the Races

"See main article, Stereophonics"

To promote the new album they played a two day festival which was called "A Day at the Races". The two day concert was held at Donington Park on the first day and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on the second. The concerts were supported by Ash, Black Crowes and Proud Mary.

List of a Day at the Races headline acts/total bands

* 2001 Headline act: Stereophonics - 4 bands

Rock and Blues Festival

A two day event featuring blues rock bands for the most part, aiming at an older audience who would have been around during the genre's heyday which had ended at the dawn of the 1990s. The Saturday saw Hawkwind playing with Meat2loaf, Eddie & The Hot Rods and Stone while the Sunday saw UFO and Uli Jon Roth playing with Wishbone Ash, Company Of Snakes (a band featuring ex-members of Whitesnake), and Deborah Bonham (sister of John Bonham of Led Zeppelin drumming fame).

List of Rock and Blues Festival headline acts

* 2001 Headline acts: Hawkwind (Friday), UFO and Uli Jon Roth (Saturday)

Ozzfest

"See main article, Ozzfest"

The largely America-based tour organised by Ozzy Osbourne (of Black Sabbath fame) and his wife, Sharon Osbourne. In 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2005 the tour extended itself to visit the United Kingdom, and two of its visits were to Donington. It first came to the UK in 1998, to fill the void left by the end of the Monsters of Rock festival series. Its role as the nearest the UK had to a 'replacement' Monsters of Rock was made more evident with the 2002 performance at Donington, and then in 2005. The 2005 trip for the tour was part of the Download Festival 2005, adding a third day onto the previously two day festival. It was dubbed 'Ozzfest Download'.

List of Ozzfest at Donington headline acts/total bands

* 2002 Headline act: Ozzy Osbourne - 24 bands
* 2005 Headline act: Black Sabbath - 9 bands (Download Festival 2005 mainstage)

= Trivia =
* On the official Download website it refers to Monsters of Rock 1996 as Monsters of Rock 2000 and A Day at the Races as Monsters of Rock 2002
* 2001 is the only year (not counting Twisted Realm @ Download and Ozzfest Download which were 'sub festivals') where more than one major music festival occurred at the venue
* Presently the record for most headline appearances by a band at Donington Park is four - this record is held by Iron Maiden (1988, 1992, 2003, 2007). After this, the most headline appearances have been by AC/DC (1981, 1984, 1991), Metallica (1995, 2004, 2006) and Ozzy Osbourne (1986, 1996 and 2002). All have three headline appearances. However, In 1996 Osbourne was the only headline act for a Donington Park festival to have to join headline a day (with KISS).
* If Ozzy Osbourne's appearance in 2005 is counted when he performed with Black Sabbath means that despite being with a different band Ozzy jointly holds the present record of four appearances with Iron Maiden.
* Monsters of Rock and Download festivals have happened across the world
* If Twisted Realm @ Download is counted as part of the main Download event, it can be said that for 2006 and beyond the festival has now been extended into a four day event
* To date there have been 26 headline acts, spread across 32 days of festivals
* From 1991 - 1993, between the two Monsters of Rock cancellations all three headline acts were repeats from previous years

= External Links =
* [http://www.monstersofrock.co.uk Monsters of Rock 2006 Official Website]
* [http://2003.downloadfestival.co.uk/ Download 2003 Website]
* [http://2004.downloadfestival.co.uk/dlf_live/news/dlf_newslist.asp Download 2004 Website]
* [http://2005.downloadfestival.co.uk/news/ Download 2005 Website]
* [http://2006.downloadfestival.co.uk/lineup/index.asp Download 2006 Website]
* [http://downloadfestival.co.uk Download 2007 Website]
* [http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/donington-1980.html / Donington Festival history 1980-1990]