Download Festival will be debuting their new programme – Mind The Dog – at this year’s event ahead of Mental Health Awareness week next month.

The programme will be implemented at the event in Donington Park on 13-16 June for the first time and will run morning, afternoon and in the evenings. But what is it?

Attendees will be able to share a fully immersive, live Music and mindfulness experience from Thursday 13 – Sunday 16 June, and will be able to channel their zen in hour long classes in The Doghouse (situated in The Village), offering free meditation which will host live music sessions, healing sound baths, and a calming focus in the evenings to elevate fans state of consciousness. The programme aims to bring fans together in the now, becoming closer to themselves, the music, and each other and comes after the recent loss of music legends including Keith Flint (Prodigy), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), and Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit): aiming to open up the conversation surrounding mental health, something Download organisers are committed to.

The Festival is also introducing new improvements to the site itself, including:

• A new devoted entrance for day visitors and non-camping weekend ticket holders
• Weekend campers will also have their own dedicated car park
• The Village is moving close to The Arena meaning festivalgoers can go from mosh to party with ease.
• 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.

That’s a lot of new stuff to take in there. The full schedule for Mind The Dog can be found here.

And to top it off, festival organisers are hoping to continue to champion sustainability initiative with it’s zero waste to landfill policy, recyclable cups, re-usable water bottles available for purchase on site, more water points, reverse vending machines and all single use plastic cutlery, containers, and straws have been banned from traders, caterers and bars.

>> Check out what happened at Download Festival 2018

Download Festival takes place at Donington Park on 14-16 June. Tickets are still available here.

Full lineup so far:

Aaron Buchanan, Alcest, Animals as Leaders, At The Gates, Bad Wolves, Batushka, Beartooth, Behemoth, Black Peaks, Brothers Osborne, Cane Hill, Clutch, coldrain, Conjurer, Crystal Lake, Deadland Ritual, FEVER 333, Godsmack, GroundCulture, Halestorm, Heart of a Coward, Icon For Hire, Intervals, Last In Line, Like A Storm, Lost In Stereo, Love Bites, Municipal Waste, Ne Obliviscaris, Palaye Royale, Parting Gift, Redhook, Skid Row, Skynd, Stone Temple Pilots, Sumo Cyco, Those Damn Crows, Three Days Grace, Toska, Trash Boat, Twelve Foot Ninja, Vega, Wolf Jaw, Alien Weaponry, Anthrax, Badflower, Black Futures, Blackberry Smoke, Dream Theater, Eagles Of Death Metal, I Prevail, The Interrupters, Jinjer, Lamb Of God, Man With A Mission, nothing,nowhere., Our Last Night, Riding The Low, Royal Republic, Slayer, The Smashing Pumpkins, State Champs, Underside, Whitechapel, Yours Truly, Zebrahead, Def Leppard, Slipknot, Tool, Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, Whitesnake, Rob Zombie, Trivium, Amon Amarth, Carcass, Delain, Die Antwoord, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, Opeth, Power Trip, Reel Big Fish, Skindred, Starset, Tesla, The Amity Affliction, Underoath, Allusinlove, Cloud, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Goodbye June, Graveyard, Hot Milk, Kim Jennett, Kvelertak, Lost Society, Nova Twins, Queen Zee, Roam, Simple Creatures, The Hu, The Picturebooks, The Wonder Years, Vambo.

NXT UK

Pete Dunne, Toni Storm, The Grizzled Young Veterans, Gallus, Jordan Devlin, Rhea Ripley, Travis Banks, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Walter