Packing for Download 2025: The banned campsite items to avoid and what you should bring this year

• It’s nearly here - one of the monstrous metal festivals of the summer, Download Festival.
• Which means that this week, and awful lot of people including ourselves are doing an awful lot of packing.
• Here’s the list of banned items you can’t bring to the campsite at Download Festival this year and several items you simply must.

This time next week, we’ll all be getting up bright and early for a full day of musical mayhem at Download Festival 2025.

Which means it’s time for that all-important packing: what to bring with you, what is essential, and what to leave at home to avoid blushes at the gates. This year’s list of items still reads like your usual suspects, but there has been a bit of a change when it comes to the kind of cookers you are allowed to use on-site.

If you’re anything like me, you might also want to take a pragmatic approach with the items that you can, and should, bring. Not only is it a slog dragging all and sundry across campsites, but by packing light, you can also do your part by limiting the amount of waste at Donington Park this year – keeping it green while also keeping it noisy.

Here’s our guide to all the banned items on-site at this year’s festival, along with the items you absolutely must bring with you, for your health, security, and, above all else, your comfort.

What items are banned from bringing with me to Download Festival’s campsites?

• Aerosols over 250ml
• Airhorns and megaphones
• Animals (other than approved assistance dogs)
• Any alcohol in possession of anyone under 18
• Any goods for unauthorised trading
• Any goods with unauthorised festival logos
• Any items which may cause danger, offence or disruption to any other person
• Any items which may reasonably be considered for use as a weapon
• Bicycles / scooters / roller-skates / skateboards
• Blow torches
• Drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles
• Excessive amounts of cigarettes (more than personal consumption)
• Excessive amounts of food (more than personal consumption)
• Firewood
• Fireworks / pyrotechnics
• Flares / distress flares / smoke bombs
• Gazebos
• Generators (unless fitted within caravans/campervans, which are a separate site)
• Glass (any glass)
• Hexamine / hexi tablets
• Illegal substances
• Individual camping gas canisters (unless fitted within campervans)
• Leatherman multi tools
• Legal Highs / New Psychoactive Substances
• Nitrous oxide and any associated equipment (balloons, Co2 dispensers, cream dispensers)
• Open campfires
• Paper lanterns or sky lanterns
• Petrol burners / petrol fuelled cookers
• Portable laser equipment and pens
• Rooftop tents (unless in the designated campervan site)
• Sound systems
• Unidentifiable substances
• Unofficial tabards or reflective jackets

What type of cookers are allowed at Download Festival 2025?

Don’t make the mistake I did and pick up a butane cooker - no gas canisters or petrol fuelled cookers will be allowed anywhere on site, with no exception to this rule.

Instead, festival-goers are permitted to use a variety of safer alternatives, including disposable BBQs, meth stoves, trangia stoves, gel fuel stoves, greenheat basecamp cookers, firelighter stoves, and solid fuel stoves.

For liquid fuels like methylated spirits or Trangia fuel, a maximum of 1 litre per stove is allowed and must be kept in its sealed original container.

All BBQs and camping stoves must be raised at least 30cms off the ground to prevent damage to the site, and under no circumstances should they be used inside tents.

What should I pack to bring with me to Download Festival?

Let’s break this down into a bit of a checklist - as I too am packing this weekend for Download and want to keep it somewhat simple.

Shelter & Sleep

• Tent: Choose one that's easy to pitch and slightly larger than you think you'll need for comfort and gear storage.
• Sleeping Bag: Check the temperature rating – even summer nights can get cold in the UK.
• Sleeping Mat or Air Bed: Essential for insulation from the cold ground and providing comfort. Don't forget a pump if it's an air bed!
• Pillow: An inflatable pillow or a small camping pillow.

If you’re looking for some last minute camping gear, having discovered days away there’s a problem with your tent or a puncture in your air mattress, you can take a look at our guide to UK Festival lifesavers for 2025.

Clothing & Footwear

• Waterproof Jacket and Trousers: Absolutely essential for unpredictable UK weather.
• Warm Layers: Hoodies, fleeces, long-sleeved tops for chilly evenings.
• Plenty of Socks: Both thick warm ones and spare dry pairs.
• Sturdy, Comfortable Footwear: Wellies or waterproof hiking boots are a must, along with comfortable shoes for walking.
• Daytime Clothes: T-shirts, shorts, jeans, etc.
• Hat: For sun protection or warmth.

Hygiene & Health

• Toiletries: Toothbrush, toothpaste, biodegradable wet wipes, dry shampoo, a small bar of soap. Brush them fangs!
• Hand Sanitiser and wet wipes: Invaluable for quick clean-ups, but try aim for biodegradable wipes or ones that contain no microplastics and do your part.
• Basic First Aid Kit: Plasters, antiseptic wipes, pain killers, blister pads, any personal medications (with prescription if necessary).
• Sunscreen: Even on cloudy days, you can burn - remember to ‘slip, slop, slap’
• Insect Repellent: because I can attest mozzie bites are not a fun thing to deal with while sleeping.
• Reusable Towel: Quick-drying microfibre towels are great but any old towel will work.

Food & Drink

• Reusable Water Bottle: Most festivals have free water refill stations.
• Non-Perishable Snacks: Granola bars, fruit, nuts – for easy energy.
• Allowed Cooking Equipment & Fuel: (e.g., meth stoves, disposable BBQs, solid fuel, as per Download's specific rules). Remember, no gas or petrol cookers!
• Allowed Drinks: Within festival quantity limits and non-glass containers.

Essentials & Safety

• Tickets & ID: Keep both physical and digital copies safe
• Phone & Fully Charged Power Bank: Essential for communication and finding friends or showing off on the ‘gram.
• Bank Card and some money: While Download Festival is cashless this year, taxis to and from the site might not be, so it’s always
• Earplugs: For sleeping through campsite noise and protecting your hearing from loud music.
• Torch or Headlamp: Absolutely essential for navigating the campsite at night.
• Portable Charger.
• Duct Tape: The ultimate festival repair tool for tents, shoes, etc.

Comfort & Convenience

• Small, Foldable Camping Chair: A game-changer for chilling at your tent.
• Backpack/Day Bag: For carrying essentials around the arena.
• Rubbish Bags: Be a responsible festival-goer and leave no trace!
• Eye Mask: For blocking out the early morning sun.
• Ear plugs: Not just for camping at night, but also to save your hearing throughout an entire weekend of very… very loud music.

Looking for more information regarding Download Festival 2025? Why not take a look at our guide to this year’s event or check out the set times and see who might be set clashing with who.