Now this would usually be posted as a news item on our site, only to disappear in a couple of days, but some of the recent announcements coming out of the Download Festival camp have been so excellent and exciting we're going to shine a heightened spotlight on it all - and it doesn't even include any bands!

MIND THE DOG

There is a higher level of focus brewing in society around the importance of mental health and general wellbeing with the Rock and Metal scene in particular pushing for the conversation in this area to be screamed louder and harder with the recent loss of the likes of Chris Cornell, Keith Flint and Chester Bennington - all to suicide. Festivals and gigs have simply always been a form of escape for people looking to forget about the anxieties of the stress that can be fuelled by everyday life and that will always continue to be the case. Whilst the music is of course always central to that, with the scope and size of some festivals in the UK now we have reached a stage where the organisers and promoters can start thinking outside of the box for what they can provide for their ever loyal punters. Last year Download Festival started to really embrace this as they introduced DO.OMYOGA which proved to be more popular than they perhaps originally anticipated. Even outside the official yoga sessions, having a gander around some of the campsites across the Friday and Saturday morning there were more than enough impromptu versions taking place between friends around the tents. Lets face it, with a festival the size of Download there is enough scope for awareness on health & wellbeing to sit alongside a crate of beer and breakfast baguettes and for the 2019 event they've really pushed on with expanding on this. Aptly name the Mind The Dog initiative, there will be several immersive sessions running across each morning, afternoon and evening in what Festival Republic's Melvin Benn has dubbed to be a "mindfulness haven".

To give you an idea on the kind of sessions that will be running, below is the full list of activities:

Thursday 13 June

13.00 - 14.00 | PM EXPANDER
A soothing music-driven meditation to encourage festival-goers to pause, connect and tune in.


Friday 14 and Saturday 15 June

10.00 - 11.00 | Free Your Mind
An immersive music-driven guided meditation to bring fans into the present as they get ready for a full day of live music.


11.30 - 12.00 | Conscious Breath Work
The breath is the remote control to the nervous system. This half hour conscious breath work session unlocks the power of this incredible tool, exploring how to use it to calm the mind, soothe the body and connect with the present.


13.00 - 14.00 | Altered State Sound Bath
Through the healing power of sound we can facilitate a shift in our brainwave state, entering into Theta (meditative or dreamlike state) and creating a deep sense of relaxation. This immersive session will comprise numerous sound healing elements to take festival-goers on a soothing journey.


14.30 - 15.00 | Stretch & Restore
Fans can take a stretch with us as we explore a series of mindful movement sequences, connecting body and breath.


16.00 - 17.00 | Elevate Your Evening
An immersive evening music and mindfulness event to elevate fans state of consciousness as the sun sets over Donington Park.


Sunday 16 June

10.00 - 11.00 | Free Your Mind
An immersive music-driven guided meditation to bring fans into the present as they get ready for a full day of live music.


11.30 - 12.00 | Conscious Breath Work
The breath is the remote control to the nervous system. This half hour conscious breath work session unlocks the power of this incredible tool, exploring how to use it to calm the mind, soothe the body and connect with the present.


13.00 - 14.00 | PM EXPANDER
A soothing music-driven meditation to encourage festival-goers to pause, connect and tune in.


For more information on these and the place to check in case of any schedule changes head over to https://downloadfestival.co.uk/whats-on/mind-the-dog/

A BIG advocate of all this is Enter Shikari's Rou Reynolds who stated: "We often go through life on autopilot, getting caught up in the stress, the anxieties, the intensity of it all. We're rarely consciously in control of our turbulent mind. Mindfulness allows us to regain control as we learn to observe our thoughts instead of getting caught up in them.

It has been an incredible help to me and I couldn't recommend it more. Not only does it help with anxiety and depression, but it also improves focus, emotional intelligence, compassion, tolerance and objectivity and has even been proven to help boost your immune system. Big up Download for introducing this programme to the festival"
. Enter Shikari are also headlining The Avalanche Stage on Sunday night.


SUSTAINABILITY/SITE IMPROVEMENTS

In 2018 Download Festival took a lot of huge strides from steps they'd already started to make to improve both the environmental sustainability of the event as well as working on site improvements to help make the overall experience better for their patrons. A lot of this came from opening up a lot of dialogue with fans and previous attendees of the festival as well as embracing much needed overhauls of long-standing processes. The biggest of these in the last couple of years has simply been the implementation of reusable plastic cups. The festival have announced that last year they saw the recycling and composting rate increase to 46% from 2017's 41%, and single use cups were reduced by a million with reusable alternatives. Recycling points in the campsites will double in 2019.

Another key point for the festival on the sustainability front came with the car parking donations - last year, via Energy Revolution, the donations raised 15,811 quid for Solar to Schools, a project which funds schools with solar roofing panels across the UK.

As far as general site improvements are concerned for 2019, the festival have also announced some of the following changes:

- A new devoted entrance for day visitors and non-camping weekend ticket holders.
- Weekend campers will have their own dedicated car park.
- The Village is moving close to The Arena.
- The NXT Arena moves closer to the guest area, where NXT UK will be live taping to broadcast as part of a weekly show on the WWE Network.
- The introduction of Metal Movies, a new open-air cinema with hammocks and lounge areas, will allow fans to kick back and watch music documentaries including being a metal band from Nepal with Underside along with a Q&A with the band afterwards, and Pursuit Of The Vikings with Amon Amarth.
- Additional water points for 2019 will be introduced across the arena. Refillable Download Festival metal water bottles will be available for purchase.
- Co-op are going to continue their Deposit and Return Scheme with their reverse vending machine returning to Download for festival goers who want to recycle plastic bottles getting a coupon in return to spend in the on site Co-op shop.


Keep your eyes peeled on Room Thirteen for further preview features ahead of Download Festival 2019 including the annual playlist curation, analysis of the line-up and opinion pieces which opens a debate around Download Festival line-ups in the future. For the moment then, smash your head around to the below: