A viral hoax suggesting children’s entertainer Mr Tumble is on the line-up for next year’s Download Festival has been confirmed as false, despite a mocked-up image circulating on social media convincing many fans he would be performing. The rumour originated from a cleverly edited image, designed to look like the official festival website, which was shared in an unofficial Download Festival Facebook group.
The fake announcement is the latest iteration of a long-running joke among members of the festival’s online community, where fans have often ironically requested the CBeebies character be booked to perform. The realistic-looking image has now spread beyond the group, causing a spike in people searching online for “mr tumble download festival” and finding no official confirmation.
The photoshopped image shows Mr Tumble, played by Justin Fletcher, on a page styled to look exactly like the artists’ section of the official Download Festival website. It even includes a detailed, tongue-in-cheek description of his supposed set, promising a “‘Something Special’ show” featuring a “‘Hello Song’ (Heavy Edition)” and a “‘Ha Ha Ha! Wall of Death'”. However, we can confirm that Mr Tumble does not appear on the official A-Z artist page on the Download Festival website.
The post in the unofficial fan group sparked hundreds of humorous reactions, with many fans playing along with the joke. One comment reads, “You need to get Mrs Rachel and her husband to deliver a set. Can you image 50,000 jumping to hop little bunnies? Push it back!!!! ‘Hop little bunnies hop hop hop…'”. Another fan added: “Count me in. Hope he does merch as well! How cool would a mr tumble download tshirt be!”.
Other comments showed a clear preference for the fictional booking over the actual line-up, with one user stating, “Honestly I’d rather watch him than GnR”. Some fans suggested other nostalgic children’s entertainers, with one person commenting, “Fuming, was hoping for the wiggle’s 30th anniversary of big red car”, while another joked, “Bring out Mr. Blobby for the nostalgic nightmare fuel”.
While the Mr Tumble rumour provided some amusement for fans, the actual first wave of artists for Download Festival 2026 was announced in late October. Guns N’ Roses, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit have been confirmed as the headliners for the event, which is set to take place at Donington Park between June 10 and 14. The 2025 edition of the festival featured headline sets from Green Day, Sleep Token, and KoRn, alongside acts like Weezer, McFly, and The Darkness.
