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Download Festival is making big changes this year, to make it safer for pilots landing at East Midlands Airport.

Organisers Festival Republic have announced they will change the layout for this year's event, to ensure some of the rock festival's landmarks are less distracting for aircraft pilots.

LeicestershireLive reports The Village - a food and entertainment area which also houses performances - is moving closer to The Arena, and the NXT Arena will move nearer to the guest area.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, said: “There’s an immense amount of safety across the board, across society, and we are close to the airport, so we are working with the airport as there are things we can make safer for them.

“We have always had good co-operation with them, it’s just good business.”

He said the festival site was quite close to the airport, so they had worked with airport officials on the site changes, which fitted in with the festival’s long term plans.

Mr Benn said: “That means there is less the pilots want to see from the plane, like the Big Top which could be a distraction.

“I don’t think fans will notice it much.”

Other improved changes for 2019 include a new devoted entrance for day visitors and non-camping weekend ticket holders, while weekend campers will also have their own dedicated car park.

The festival will also see the introduction of Metal Movies, a new open-air cinema with hammocks and lounge areas, which will allow fans to kick back and watch music documentaries.

The Eco Campsite, opened in 2018, saw zero tents left behind and returns this year with an increased capacity for a total of 2,000 campers, a 33 per cent increase from last year.

And additional water points for 2019 will be introduced across the arena, with refillable Download Festival metal water bottles available for purchase for the first time.

The main festival headliner this year is Def Leppard.