CELAVI bring Welsh pride to Download Festival on the Takeover stage
CELAVI performing on the Takeover stage at Download Festival 2026.
Bilingual North Wales duo CELAVI joined Festpod moments after making their Download Festival debut to talk about Welsh identity, an emotional first look at the crowd and the moment playing the festival finally became real.
For CELAVI, stepping onto the Takeover stage at Download Festival came with more than the usual first-show nerves. There were Welsh flags in the crowd. For a band whose identity is closely tied to their language and where they come from, seeing them from the stage hit immediately.
“The first time stepping onto that stage, seeing it packed and seeing the Welsh flags - it was very, very emotional,” they told Festpod shortly after their set.
Sarah also greeted the crowd with “Cymru am byth” - Wales forever.
That connection to Wales runs through CELAVI’s music. Sarah and Gwion are a bilingual nu-metal duo from Bangor, North Wales, writing and performing in both Welsh and English.
Growing up, they said they didn’t have a Welsh-language metal band they felt they could see themselves in.
“We wanted to be that band for the metalheads, emos, goths. We just wanted to be that band for other people. Hopefully they can relate to us as well.”
When Download finally became real
Even after CELAVI were told they had been selected for the Takeover, believing it was actually going to happen was another matter.
“When we found out, we cried.”
The acceptance messages were apparently followed by a mixture of disbelief, and double-checking with each other to confirm that nobody was imagining things.
“Up until today it’s like, ‘We’re playing Download.’ It’s not real, is it, until it happens? It’s like a fever dream.”
That feeling lasted almost until showtime.
For the 10 or 15 minutes immediately before the set, the nerves were very much still there. Then, with around 20 seconds to go before the intro track began, something changed.
“Everything just sort of clicked and it was just like - locked in.”
And then they walked out.
Fire, flags and a very big stage
Once CELAVI were actually up there, the nerves disappeared.
The band had already described Download as the biggest show they had ever played. What they hadn’t expected was quite so much fire. Pyro on the Takeover stage came as a surprise to CELAVI as much as it had to 40,000 Leagues before them.
“That was not on my bingo card for this year.”
Neither, apparently, was quite how difficult it would be to leave the stage afterwards.
“If I’d have had half the chance, you couldn’t have peeled me off that stage if you tried. I was having an absolute blast.”
CELAVI may officially be a duo, but their Download performance sounded considerably bigger, with Tom joining them behind the drums.
Festpod’s verdict immediately afterwards was fairly simple: for three people on that stage, it was a hell of a lot of noise.
Four years to Download
CELAVI have been together for around four years. Was Download ever realistically part of the plan when they started?
“It was our dream. It’s the dream, I think, for any rock, metal, punk band to perform at Download.”
The significance wasn’t lost on them.
“So many artists that we love perform here and now we can say that…”
They can indeed. They’re a Download band now.
And they seemed quite happy with the idea of making that fact everyone else’s problem for a while.
“It’s going to be my personality for the next six months.”
What came next
At the time of our Download interview, CELAVI were already working on new music and preparing for another significant show - supporting As December Falls at Chepstow Castle alongside Lake Malice and Tigress. That show subsequently took place on 15 August.
The band have continued announcing shows beyond Download, while their official site now prominently celebrates their 2026 Download appearance alongside their Welsh-language releases. But backstage at Donington, none of that had happened yet. They had only just walked off the biggest stage of their lives.
So, were they on a high?
“I’m jumping. Just so, so happy.”
After four years of dreaming about Download, CELAVI had finally done it. And they made sure a little bit of Wales came with them.
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