Download Festival is implementing a full mindfulness programme in 2019 for the first time. Announced ahead of Mental Health Awareness week next month, the ‘Mind The Dog’ initiative will run morning, afternoon, and evening sessions where rockers can share a fully immersive, live music and mindfulness experience.

The recent loss of music legends such as Keith Flint (Prodigy), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), and Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit), calls for action to open up the conversation surrounding mental health, something Download organisers are committed to.
 
Festival Republic’s Melvin Bennsaid:“Download Festival has gone from strength to strength in its sustainability and accessibility offerings, so it only made sense to offer an on-site programme for mental health, as well as physical. 

By introducing Mind The Dog this year, we are hoping to provide a mindfulness haven in The Doghouse across the weekend, with meditation, sound baths, and more. I couldn’t be prouder of how much Download Festival has accomplished already.”
 
Fans can channel their zen under ambient lighting and atop woven tapestries, before immersing themselves in hour-long classes under the roof of The Doghouse, which will transform into Mind The Dog by day, offering free mindfulness gatherings.

Morning meditation will host curated live music sessions, designed to ready campers for the day, whilst the afternoon offers a healing sound bath, encouraging fans to pause, connect, and tune into themselves. 

The evening class will bring a calming focus to elevate fans’ state of consciousness. Designed with conscious breath work sessions, the programme aims to bring fans together in the ‘now’, becoming closer to themselves, the music, and each other.
 
In support of the programme, Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds,a headliner of The Avalanche Stage at this year’s festival said:”We often go through life on autopilot, getting caught up in the stresses, the anxieties, the intensity of it all. Mindfulness allows us to regain control as we learn to observe our thoughts instead of getting caught up in them.
 
It has been an incredible help to me, and I couldn’t recommend it more. Not only does it help with anxiety and depression, but it also improves focus, emotional intelligence, compassion, tolerance and objectivity and has even been proven to help boost your immune system. Big up Download for introducing this programme to the festival”.

Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com