Wholesome photos of goths at Download 2023
- Text by Emma Garland
- Photography by Chris Bethell
Download: home to more battle jackets than Camden Market, more Carlsberg than Copenhagen and more camping chairs than Mountain Warehouse. Every year thousands make their way to Donington Park for the mammoth British rock festival, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with a special four-day weekender featuring a double performance from Metallica and a line-up so enormous that tickets sold out for the first time ever.
It’s also a festival that, arguably, pulls the nicest crowd of any event in the UK – nay, the world. Those unfamiliar with the culture might assume that the kind of person rocking up to see a load of bands with names like ‘Pupil Slicer’ and ‘Smash Into Pieces’ would be, shall we say, a “gloomy” individual. But far from the stereotypes peddled by Woodstock ‘99 or The Purge vibes of Sunday night at Reading and Leeds, Download feels more like a knee-slapping gig down your local pub – except it’s attended by 130,000 people. Motley crews of veteran rockers, young lovers and children in Slipknot masks pile in to share pizza, throw down and pick each other up again.
Photographer Chris Bethell was there to capture all the wholesome fun at Download 2023, including everything from moshers on the dodgems to a man offering hugs to anyone in need of emotional support. Put your hands in the air and prepare to smile!
Latest on Huck
Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines
The Ride of a Lifetime — Wanting to marry a love of cars and photography, Kathy Shorr worked as a limousine driver in the ’80s to use as a studio on wheels. Her new photobook explores her archive.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland
In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.
Written by: Alex King
Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.
Written by: Maria Teriaeva