Download Festival - Download 2010

Download 2010

The Download Festival was confirmed to return to Donington on the weekend 11–13 June 2010, the campsites opening on 9 June. On 25 January, nine bands were announced at the official Download website, including AC/DC as one of the main stage headliners. On 15 February Rage Against the Machine and Aerosmith were confirmed as the other two main stage headliners, as well as 5 more bands confirmed a few hours later.

22 bands were added on 22 March. This announcement confirmed that Bullet for My Valentine, 30 Seconds to Mars and Stone Sour would be the headliners of the Ronnie James Dio Stage. Stage splits were also confirmed.

Saxon performed their 'Wheels of Steel' album in its entirety to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Download 2010 was also the 30th anniversary of rock festivals at Donington Park, since the first one – which Saxon performed at – in 1980.

It was announced on 16 May that the second stage would be renamed "The Ronnie James Dio Stage" in tribute to the singer and bassist who died of stomach cancer on the same day. It was also announced that the main stage would be called The Maurice Jones Stage after the co-founder of Monsters of Rock who also died the previous year.

28 May saw 15 more bands added, as well as the official announcement of the Jägermeister-sponsored fifth stage, which would host acoustic acts including bands already performing usual sets at the festival. Sum 41, who were initially announced, then cancelled their appearance due to drummer Steve Jocz being involved in an accident. On 30 May 2010 it was announced that Wolfmother had to cancel their set due to illness and they were replaced by Killswitch Engage.

Ratt were scheduled to play on Sunday, but cancelled due to illness of lead vocalist Stephen Pearcy. On 9 June, FM were announced as Ratt's replacement.

The Boardie Takeover ran for the second year in a row on Thursday 10 June. It featured the bands Silent Descent, Fallen Fate, Jacknife Holiday and Cyster Scalpel, as well as singers, DJs and a burlesque dancer.

AC/DC played their set on an exclusive stage positioned next to the Maurice Jones stage, allowing the band to bring their full stadium show to the festival. As announced on 28 May. This marked the first time a headlining band had brought their own stage to Donington. All of the other headlining bands on the other stages had finished their sets before AC/DC began their performance. The AC/DC stage was used only for the actual band, the runway at the front was taken down the next day and the stage remained empty and unused for the rest of the festival once their headlining set was over.