This year, Nala Body Piercing was invited to bring professional body piercing to Download Festival 2026. What followed was five days of incredible people, non-stop piercing, unforgettable memories, and one very tired piercer.
What an amazing time we had at Download Festival 2026!
We got to meet the coolest, friendliest bunch of people and, not only that, we got to do some very cool piercings too.
We were absolutely stoked when the Download Festival organisers contacted us and invited us to collaborate with them by setting up a pop-up body piercing studio at the festival this year.
I’ll be honest; we were a little hesitant at first. The thought of piercing at a festival had us wondering if it was really a good idea. We had concerns about how people would care for a new piercing while camping and enjoying a music festival for 3–5 days. It’s not exactly the ideal healing environment!
After some thought, we came up with the idea of setting up an aftercare station. Everyone who was pierced by us was invited to come back and see us throughout the festival. We would clean their piercings, check on their healing progress, and be on hand to help with any issues.
Nala is proud of the high standards it works to in providing professional body piercing and under no circumstances were we going to drop this, even at a festival.
What surprised us most was that any piercing problems we saw were actually from piercings that had been done elsewhere before the festival.
We really didn’t know what to expect. We’d never done anything like this before, and although we’d been shown photos of the setup, we were still a little uncertain. We just thought we’d make the best of it and enjoy the experience.
What we didn’t expect was just how amazing the setup would be.
“The Pit” was a seriously bougie boutique marquee offering professional body piercing, hair braiding, makeup services, and bespoke barbering. It looked incredible.
We got ourselves set up, still not quite knowing what to expect, and then what followed was five days of non-stop piercing.
From the moment the gates opened, we were busy. The response was incredible, and we were completely blown away by how friendly, welcoming, and lovely everyone was. We honestly loved every minute of it.
Did we get to see any bands?
Our little helpers managed to find some time to enjoy their favourite bands. Bands such as Limp Bizkit, Babymetal, Behemoth, The Primals , Creeper and Ice Nine Kills just to name a few .
As for me, after piercing back-to-back all day, I mostly collapsed into my tent every night!
But on Sunday, after completing our final piercing of Download Festival 2026, I made it into the arena just in time to see Linkin Park.
They absolutely blew me away.
I’m still feeling the after-effects of the week, but what an experience it was.
Will we be returning next year? HELL YES!
Thank you Download Festival, we’ll see you next year!
A massive thank you to:
Hayley, the boss lady who invited us.
Laura-Jayne, the best piercer ever.
And our amazing helpers; Freya, Merlyn, and Lyndsay.
Without your help, this would have been so much harder.
And finally, to every single person who trusted us with their new piercing at Download Festival 2026– thank you.
You were all amazing, and we genuinely appreciate every one of you.
From everyone at Nala Body Piercing, thank you for making Download Festival 2026 such an unforgettable experience.
Big love,
Annette