Lounge On The Farm faces threat to it's future

An online petition has been set up by Lounge On The Farm calling for festival goers to sign up to ensure that the annual event held at Merton Farm, Nackington Lane, in Canterbury is allowed to continue.

It has been revealed that local police have asked Canterbury City Council to revoke the licence for the annual event, established in 2006, on the grounds of "the prevention of crime and disorder, public nuisance, the protection of children from harm and public safety."

An article in This Is Kent (here) a couple of weeks ago gave details that it was under threat.

Officers are said to be investigating reports of around 20 offences with Police Inspector Terry Chuter quoted as saying the majority of these are thefts of phones and cameras from tents, and that there was also a report of a sexual assault, a domestic violence incident, and a robbery.

This triggered the Police's call for the revocation of the licence for what appears to be 'normal Saturday night troubles' from a small minority of undesirables that could happen at any festival of this size catering for 10,000 revellers.

The LOTF team have acknowledged that the issues took place and have already taken several significant steps into ensuring that these do not happen again.

Organiser of LOTF Sean Baker said to eFestivals,

"It has recently come to light that the police are looking to revoke Lounge on the Farm's license for 2012. In response to this, Lounge on the Farm has started a petition aimed at Canterbury Council to appeal against this action. With over 300 signatures in under 24 hours, Lounge on the Farm hopes that many more will continue to see this as a platform for those in favour of the festival to make themselves heard.

Lounge On The Farm is about bringing music to people in a positive environment - we find it sad that at every music festival there is a small percentage of people who will behave antisocially. We have always worked closely with the Kent police and local authorities to avoid these issues as much as possible and any problems from last year have been taken very seriously. The festival has been running since 2006 as an event that is respected and enjoyed by all who attend, in whatever capacity, official or as a customer.

The festival has shown steady growth each year and as it continues to grow we are continuing to invest in more policing, more security and better traffic management - we always work hard to take proactive measures to prevent problems. Planning for the festival begins each August and this year one of our first jobs was to procure an additional 50 acres for parking on site for 2012 to address our parking issues of last year.

We have also employed an event management company with expertise in festivals to assist us with the long term planning and development of Lounge On The Farm.
We are committed to our local community and our customers, both in providing some well needed cultural entertainment in Kent and protecting their welfare while they enjoy themselves.."

To ensure that LOTF remains part of the festival scene, and sign the petition click here.


Whilst trouble at festivals these days is almost non-existent there's always the possibility of crimes like thefts from tents happening at any festival. The article reveals that the number of cases of reported crime was relatively low at just twenty.

Any festival that doesn't keep a handle on trouble like this can find themselves refused a licence for future events. However, it would have to be proved that the festival is creating more crime in the area instead of just concentrating normal crime averages for the region.

The dates for the sixth Lounge on the Farm music festival, is set to takes place from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th of July 2012. An early bird adult weekend ticket is priced at £105, youth tickets (aged 13-17 on 06/07/2012) are priced at £82.50, children (aged under 13 on 06/07/2012) can attend free, family tickets which allow entrance of 2 x adults and 2 x kids (aged 13 - 17 years) are priced at £265, or £190 if the two children are aged under 13 years. A campervan/mobile caravan ticket is priced at £50.

For those who have already bought early bird tickets, Mr Baker has assured, "All ticket money for the 2012 event has been ring-fenced. Anyone who has bought an early-bird ticket will be protected from losing their money in the unlikely event of a revocation of the licence."

To buy tickets, click here.

The city council's licensing panel will decide, at Canterbury Guildhall on Tuesday 13th December how bad things were and whether to pull the plug.

Latest Updates