The band Witch Fever has added their voice to the growing chorus of opposition against Download Festival’s controversial policy regarding toilet access for transgender fans.

Earlier on May 27, artists NOAHFINNCE and Pinkshift publicly criticized the rock and metal festival for maintaining a policy that effectively prohibits trans women from using women’s restrooms and trans men from using men’s restrooms.

NOAHFINNCE, a pop-punk singer-songwriter, shared a screenshot apparently taken from an email exchange with Download Festival. the email stated: “We are proud of the reputation the Download community has in terms of diversity, and will always look to promote the safety and comfort of all festival attendees including transgender and non-binary customers.”

“We will be following the interim guidance issued by the equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on 25 April 2025 here. Their guidance states that ‘trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities'”.

Hey @DownloadFest what the fuck are you doing. How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play yoru festival and then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can piss is by outing ourselves then you’ve created an unsafe surroundings… pic.twitter.com/W0oLIa5P4U

– NOAHFINNCE👹 (@noahfinnadams) May 27, 2025

NOAHFINNCE responded directly, stating: “Hey @downloadfest what the fuck are you doing inviting trans people to play your festival but not allowing them the simple right of using the correct bathroom?”

he continued, “I had a great time playing last year but will not be attending again if I have to queue up for the ladies’ bathroom and my trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men’s bathroom. All this does is put trans people in danger,” adding, “If you’re playing @downloadfest, attending it or even just aware of it, say something about it.”

Witch Fever Joins the Criticism

Manchester-based band Witch Fever has also voiced their disapproval of Download’s policy. In a post on their Instagram Stories on Tuesday, the band responded to a question about the policy, stating:

“The threat to trans people’s safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don’t associate with is a complete fuckin tragedy. We are hoping this decision gets changed.”

Witch Fever has consistently advocated for the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals. The band performed at Download Festival in 2023.

In a 2022 interview, bassist ALEX THOMPSON stated: “Empowerment is always going to be at the core of anything we do, because that’s why we do this. We wanna show people – especially women and gender non-conforming people – that you can express yourself in the way you’ve been told your whole life you shouldn’t – and there’s a power and positivity to doing that.”

“The threat to trans people’s safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don’t associate with is a complete fuckin tragedy.”

Legal Context and Broader Reactions

The policy enacted by Download organizers appears to be connected to the UK Supreme Court ruling on April 16, which steadfast that the legal definition of “woman” is based on biological sex as defined under the Equality Act.