BREAKING: Hop Farm Festival cancelled
Organisers of this year's Hop Farm Music Festival have announced that this year's event has been cancelled.
Organisers of this year's Hop Farm Music Festival have announced that this year's event has been cancelled.
Wet weather and a downturn in visitor numbers could force the closure of one of Kent's biggest tourist attractions. The trading arm of Paddock Wood's Hop Farm is expected to be declared insolvent at a creditors' meeting next week.
David Johns reports, talking to Jackie Matthias of West Kent Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Insolvency Practitioner Susan Maund.
The Hop Farm is currently mothballed for the winter season and not open for business.
It's unclear how many staff are employed at the site near Tonbridge. A spokesman declined to comment on any possible job losses.
A spokesman for the Hop Farm at Paddock Wood has told ITV News Meridian that the business arm of the attraction has currently ceased trading.
He added that it is contacting suppliers to warn them of their difficulties.
In recent years the Hop Farm Festival has attracted some major names including Prince, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and Sir Bruce Forsyth.
According to its website, there are still plans for the festival to go ahead in 2013 although the line-up has yet to be announced.
A first tranche of tickets to be released has already sold out
There are reports that one of Kent's biggest tourist attractions is set to close.
Kent Online is reporting that the The Hop Farm in Paddock could close shortly. It claims it has been hit by huge debts from a music festival held there last year.
As the Hop Farm festival gets underway this weekend at Paddock Wood, plans are being finalised for a Reggae festival at the same venue in August. The One Love Festival will celebrate 50 years of Jamaican Independence.
It's also screening a film telling the story behind Reggae legend Bob Marley's life. The film presents the 'lost footage of Bob Marley' shot by Esther Anderson in 1973 and shows his first ever rehearsal with the Wailers.. After the screening festival goers will be able to ask Esther questions.
Reggae lovers will be heading to the One Love festival in Kent this August, to celebrate 50 years of Jamaican Independence
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