‘Final Fantasy 14’ metal band The Primals lead Download Festival 2026 additions

Day splits for the 2026 event have been confirmed with A Day To Remember, Marmozets, Creeper and more also set to perform The post ‘Final Fantasy 14’ metal band The Primals lead Download Festival 2026 additions appeared first on NME. NewsGaming News ‘Final Fantasy 14’ metal band The Primals lead Download Festival 2026 additions Day splits for the 2026 event have been confirmed with A Day To Remember, Marmozets, Creeper and more also set to perform By Ali Shutler 23rd February 2026 Masayoshi Soken performs with 'Final Fantasy' band The Primals in 2023 Download Festival has confirmed 12 more names for the 2026 event – including Final Fantasy 14 metal covers band The Primals. READ MORE: How ‘Final Fantasy 14’ breaks all the rules of video game music The rock and metal festival is returning to Donington Park in Leicestershire from June 10 to 14 and will be headlined by Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park. Advertisement More than 90 names were confirmed for Download 2026 last year, including Bad Omens, Cypress Hill, Tom Morello, Trivium, Halestorm, Pendulum, Mastodon, BABYMETAL, Architects, The All-American Rejects and Feeder. This morning (Monday February 23), 12 more names were announced for Download Festival 2026 alongside day splits. A Day To Remember will headline The Opus Stage on the Sunday while Creeper, Hot Milk, Marmozets, Frozemode, Daughtry and Conjurer will also appear across the weekend alongside Annisokay, Band-Maid, Decessus, Private School, Silly Goose and Stampin’ Ground. Final Fantasy 14’s composer Masayoshi Soken is also bringing his metal band The Primals to Donington Park for their first ever show outside of Asia. The group is made up of game developers and they play heavy versions of Final Fantasy classic anthems. “Normally the artist onstage is the protagonist but with those shows, the player’s game experiences are the protagonists. We’re just there to light a fire towards their memories,” Soken told NME last year. Recommended Download Festival 2026 lineup poster “We’re really proud of our line-up this year, and our second announcement brings further depth and diversity to DLXXIII. We have huge artists like A Day To Remember, Daughtry, Creeper and Hot Milk, as well as bringing Final Fantasy 14’s official band The Primals to Download for their very first show outside of Asia,” said Download Festival’s Kamran Haq in a statement. “And due to popular demand, Miss World Chile – Ignacia Fernández – will be performing with her band Decessus after surprising the world with her incredible death metal vocals a few months ago.” He went on to tease “even more surprises” for Download 2026. Weekend tickets are on sale now and you can find yours here. Day tickets will be made available this Wednesday (February 25). Advertisement Download 2025 was headlined by Green Day, Sleep Token and KoRn and also featured the likes of Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, The Darkness and Poppy. Festival organiser Andy Copping spoke to NME in 2024 about the importance of creating a platform for new and emerging talent. “I’ve always wanted to do that, and you can see it in how we’ve been developing the other stages like the Dogtooth stage and the Avalanche,” he said. “For us, it’s about giving bands the opportunity to grow. We’ve got the platform and we want to be sending a message to those guys like ‘Come and play. We believe in you and you’ve got a great opportunity here.’ Thankfully, for the most part, these bands do step up and they do deliver.” Related TopicsA Day To RememberArchitectsBad OmensCreeperGuns N' RosesHalestormHot MilkLimp BizkitLinkin ParkMarmozetsMetal You May Also Like Advertisement TRENDING The NME 100: essential emerging artists for 2026 Leigh-Anne on going independent and her debut solo album: “You’re not going to tell me the kind of artist I should be. I know... Foo Fighters deliver the dopamine on the futureproof rock beast ‘Your Favorite Toy’ ‘Paul McCartney: Man On The Run’ review: the endearing tale of how a Beatle found his Wings Confessions of a GAME employee: “My Mario costume had a funky smell” Advertisement More Stories Music News President sign to Atlantic Records, share emotional new single ‘Angel Wings’ Music News Watch Jack Osbourne tearfully share Ozzy’s reaction to final concert with Billy Corgan: “He was so happy” Music News Behemoth cancel India show amidst safety fears and “threats” from “religious Christian groups” Music News Sharon responds as hundreds dress as Ozzy Osbourne for Mardi Gras Music News Iron Maiden share full details of “once-in-a-lifetime” Knebworth 2026 EddFest weekend Music News Tool in talks for Sphere residency in 2027: “We’re the perfect band for that”