Overview

• The three-day Download Festival at Donington Park began on June 13 and is hosting about 75,000 fans for headliners Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn.
• Smartwatch and smartphone crash-detection features have triggered nearly 700 extra 999 calls over a typical festival weekend by mistaking mosh-pit activity for collisions.
• Leicestershire Police are urging festivalgoers to switch devices to airplane mode or disable emergency alerts to prevent accidental calls.
• Each unwanted call requires call-handler assessments and callbacks, diverting resources from genuine emergencies.
• Organisers have tightened safety rules after past incidents, including two deaths in 2022, and prohibit items like replica weapons for crowd protection.