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Watch Vengaboys pull huge and feral crowd at Download 2025
Vengaboys made their debut at Download 2025 this weekend, and pulled a massive crowd. Check out footage below.
The metal festival was held over the weekend at Donington Park in Leicestershire, with Green Day, Sleep Token and KoRn all playing headline sets on the main stage.
Others on the bill included Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Jimmy Eat World, Poppy, Loathe, Jerry Cantrell, McFly, Within Temptation, Eagles Of Death Metal, The Darkness, Spiritbox, Meshuggah, Steel Panther, Cradle Of Filth and Alien Ant Farm.
One of the less conventional artists on the bill, however, was the Dutch Eurodance music group Vengaboys. They were added to the line-up in March, and performed on the ‘District X’ site.
Despite not having the usual metal and rock background as the other artists on the line-up, by bringing their usual high-energy performance to the stage, Vengaboys managed to pull a huge crowd during their Download debut and incite an intense response from the audience.
The gig took place on Thursday (June 12), and was held at the Download Village area, just outside the main arena. During the set, they broke out songs like ‘We Like To Party!’, ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’ and ‘We’re Going To Ibiza!’, and got thousands of rock and metal fans to bounce around ecstatically.
Check out some footage of the moment below.
@tturton13 The Vengabus is Coming
#vengaboys #vengabus #download #downloadfestival #dl25 #doningtonpark #metal #rock #pop #boomboomboomboom
@meganb1812 Vengaboys were popular
#downloadfestival #downloadfestival2025 #download2025 #vengaboys #vengabus
♬ We like to Party! (The Vengabus) – More Airplay – Vengaboys
“Heavier than 90 per cent of the bands that performed at this festival,” one person commented on YouTube, praising the set, while another added: “I love this so much, and especially love the crowd loving it too. Those slagging it off need putting in the bin.”
“Honestly just great to see people having fun,” another added, while a fourth agreed: “This looks awesome”. Check out some more responses below.
People crying because Download is no longer a ‘rock music’ festival
— 𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖆.
︎ (@ellamorgan_x) June 13, 2025
Vengaboys opening Download is iconic
— weronika (@weronixy) June 13, 2025
Vengaboys last night in the tent at download was epic ….. never thought I would type them words
— Adam (@Deprivedkro) June 13, 2025
Rock and metalheads absolutely loving the Vengaboys at Download Fest last night!! https://t.co/Bz3DVN4o8k
—
Becki
The inclusion of Vengaboys on the line-up comes following festival boss Andy Copping catching up with NME last December to discuss the bill for the 2025 festival, and explain how he is trying to get the event to evolve.
“When we first launched Download in 2002, we just wanted to get through that year. After that, the plan became ways to make it go further and further,” he said.
“The festival has to evolve because people’s tastes and people’s expectations evolve all the time. The festival will die if we don’t move with the times, so we have to be innovative. We have to see what’s going on across social media and analyse the way people are consuming music in the TikTok age.
“All of that is super important. Luckily, we’ve put together a very wide and varied young team who are giving input into what they feel the festival should be. We also talk to the fans all the time and ask them what they want to see. We seek out feedback on what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. From that, we’ve found a formula that’s been working for us.”
In other Download news, this weekend also saw attendees urged to remove their smartwatches to prevent moshpits from triggering emergency alerts, and Green Day use their headline set to call out Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The post Watch Vengaboys pull huge and feral crowd at Download 2025 appeared first on NME.
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