On the day that the campsites officially open their gates for the Download Festival 2008, organisers bring exciting news about its first headlining act of the weekend. KISS, who close the first day of the festival on Friday 13 June, have revealed that they are giving their fans the chance to take whole recordings of their shows home with them across their sell out European tour.

10 key dates have been selected – and one of these is Download! The KISS Live 2008 limited edition series CDs will be available soon after the last notes from KISS are ringing out across the arena. Produced by award-winning pioneer of live audio merchandise, Concert Live, these exclusive CDs are limited to 5,000 per show and must be pre-ordered before the show from either the Concert Live merchandise stall or from one of the roaming staff on site, priced at £15.

Gibson Guitar and Olympus LS-10 have announced that Verra Cruz are the winner of their unsigned band competition, which received over 350 entries for the chance to open the Gibson Guitar stage on Saturday 14 June.

“We are honoured (and a bit shocked) to be given the opportunity to rock at the Download Festival on Saturday 14th. In the video that we posted, I was playing my 1950's Gibson Lap Steel, it will be coming home to grace the Gibson stage, bring it on”

Marc James, Verra Cruz

In the spirit of staying safe and enjoying Download to the full, Leicestershire Police have re-launched their text messaging and email service aimed at gathering information before, during and after the event on potential trouble to assist in crime prevention. Festival goers can text ‘police’ followed by their message to 86688 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it More advice can be found on www.downloadfestival.co.uk for a safe and happy Download.

With 100 bands over the three days, comedy in the campsite, Silent Discos, ‘Riff and Destroy’ competitions, late night DJs, five a side football, this year’s Download Festival is ready to rock the house down! Don’t miss out – weekend and day tickets are still available from 0844 847 1767 or www.downloadfestival.co.uk.

TICKET INFORMATION 2008

DAY TICKETS

13 June - £65.00
14 June - £60.00
15 June - £60.00

WEEKEND TICKETS

Weekend ticket - £130.00
Standard Camping - £20.00
Campervan - £40.00
Family Zone Camping - £20.00
Lockers - £11.00
Car Park - £10.00 advance, £15.00 on the day