Download Festival 2017 / Photos: Katja Ogrin / Getty Images

Download Festival Plans To Expand Into More Aussie Cities “Sooner Than Later”

UPDATE: CONFIRMED: Download Festival Is Coming To Sydney & Melbourne In 2019

ORIGINAL STORY: Download Festival organisers are increasingly optimistic about the chances of expanding the festival into more Australian cities, after it makes its debut in Melbourne this weekend.

In November last year, Download Festival Programmer Nigel Melder said organisers were “not in a hurry” to expand the festival across Australia, but in a new interview with Music Feeds contributor Mike Hohnen, Melder says they’re buoyed by the support they’ve received for their inaugural Australian event.

“Our plan was to expand in the first three years, and I think that’s probably gonna happen sooner than later, just by the way it’s been received and people voting with their wallets,” Melder says.

“We did go into this with a plan to expand it, and everything is on track for that to happen and it may even happen a little quicker than we had planned.

“Part of that is just treading carefully, part of that is coming up with a lineup that’s not too big. We’re not spending a lot of money putting on too many stages with too many clashes and too many artists, and making sure that this thing lasts and it runs for years and years and years, like it has done in the UK.

“As long as we treat it well and respectfully, there’s no reason why it’s not gonna work and there’s no reason why we’re not gonna move forward and expand into other cities. But part of that is [moving] slowly and not getting ahead of ourselves, and just being cautious… It’s about making the show work for the people, and that’s the way it will expand.”

While Music Feeds understands Download organisers were in talks with the likes of Megadeth and BABYMETAL for the first edition of Download Australia, Melder (without naming names) admits there were “a couple” of bands they weren’t able to secure for the festival, and says organisers will “have a crack at them next year”.

Download Festival will make its Australian debut at Flemington Racecourse on Saturday, 24th March, and will be headlined by Korn, Prophets Of Rage and Limp Bizkit.

Catch the full lineup below, and stay tuned for Music Feeds‘ full interview with Nigel Melder, coming soon.

Get To Know The 2018 Download Festival Australia Lineup

(In no particular order…)

Download Festival Australia 2018 Lineup

Cast Down

Joining…

Make Them Suffer
High Tension

Joining…

Korn (Only Australian Show)
Prophets Of Rage
Limp Bizkit
Mastodon
Good Charlotte
NOFX
Suicidal Tendencies
Gojira
Amon Amarth
Arch Enemy
Falling In Reverse
Neck Deep
Sabaton
Hot Water Music
Of Mice & Men
The Story So Far
Northlane
Trophy Eyes
Nails
Issues
Bad Cop/Bad Cop
Ocean Grove
Psycroptic
King Parrot
Clowns
Chase Atlantic
Cursed Earth
Alpha Wolf

Download Festival Australia 2018

Saturday, 24th March
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne (18+)
Tickets: Official Website

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