Shepherd Neame has joined a community effort to ensure the town’s hugely popular Hop Festival goes ahead this year.
The free annual event has been running for more than three decades and attracts thousands of visitors to the town. But last month organisers warned that this year’s event — the first after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic — could be axed due to a funding shortfall.
Following a community fundraising campaign, however, along with the addition of five new sponsors, it will now go ahead as planned, on Saturday, 3rd September, and Sunday, 4th September.
A spokesperson for festival organiser Community Heritage Events, a non-profit organisation, said: “We are delighted to announce that our fundraising appeal to the people and businesses of Faversham and beyond has been very successful. Hop Festival 2022 will go ahead.
“This is testament to the enduring popularity of the festival. We want to thank each and every person who responded to the appeal by donating a few pounds or considerably more.
“Our much-valued mainstay sponsors, Shepherd Neame, and Swale Borough Council, have been joined by new Hop Festival sponsors who are: Bridgers Law, Faversham Town Council, HatHats Coffee Company, Keiths Motors and TMS Automotive, and West Faversham Community Association.
“We look forward to welcoming everyone to the best Hop Festival ever on the weekend of 3rd and 4th September.”
Shepherd Neame has been supporting the event, which commemorates the golden days of hop picking in Kent, since it was first held, 32 years ago. Festival-goers can enjoy live music across five stages and in pubs throughout the town, along with great food and drink, a family fun area, stalls, exhibitions, and other activities.
Chief executive, Jonathan Neame, said: “The Faversham Hop Festival is a fantastic way of celebrating an intrinsic part of Kent’s heritage, and also provides a significant economic boost for our pubs, retailers, and the town as a whole, attracting thousands of visitors.
“After the unprecedented events of the past two years, it is more important than ever to bring people together, and we look forward to joining the celebrations.”
The announcement comes as a new website for the festival is launched, thanks to funding from Swale Borough Council.
