Download Festival Angels

6/14/2023

Festival Angels were at Download in Castle Donington for the first time running two of the new AIR Hubs. Download is an annual festival with heavy metal and rock and this year celebrated 20 years with record crowds of 95,000.

AIR (Assistance, Information, Response) Hubs were based on the camp sites with Festival Angels running the two on Green / Eco camping.

Over the six days of the Festival, where temperatures were around 30c, thirty-six volunteers were on hand to: help people find space to camp; put up tents; seek assistance from other agencies working across the festival site; offer a space of shade and to sit down; be a friendly and welcoming space on the camp site with water, plasters, wet wipes, sanitary products and sun tan lotion.

Around 1000 Jesus Loves Festivals and several thousand #LookOutForEachOther tattoos were given away over the week. The Jesus Loves Festivals ones proved very popular with some requesting prayer or having in depth conversations around Jesus and faith.

Festival Angels also connected with the Chaplaincy team working in the Main Arena who were on hand to offer a listening ear and friendly space both in the tent and through detached teams across the site. The Chaplains ran a Communion Service for the first time on the Sunday morning.