^{The Faversham Hop Festival is an annual two-day family event with free entry. Held on the 1st weekend with a day of September in it, we set out to commemorate the golden days of hop-picking when families would come to Kent and pass the evenings with music and stories (if they weren't too exhasuted from a day in the fields). The festival is organised and run by volunteers, and all of the content on these web pages has been supplied by those volunteers and you - the visitors and participants in our community event. Please take some time to look through the pages presented, many of which have been created by the performing artists and businesses themselves. Look out for links (some of them are hidden - try clicking on band and beer names for instance) - they may well lead to treats like food offers and free music.}

^{To see what the festival is all about, go to the gallery and click on the movie we had made (thanks to RVP Video in Ospringe).}

HOLD THE PAPERS !!!

^{A recent article states we need money or the festival will fail this year. Whilst true, what we actually need more than a straight handout is for a group of angels to underwrite our shortfall. With the festival assured, the hard work to be put in by all the volunteers that contribute will not be in vain, and we can continue with our own efforts to make the festival self-sustaining by 2016.}

^{If you want to help, we have Sponsor a Band, The Faversham 100 initiative and Event Partner and Sponsor marketing packs to choose from. To find out more, please download a PDF application by simply clicking here ..., look out for details through the post or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (if you are interested in Underwriting please email us or login to this web site and look under the "Sponsor" section of the "Contact/Login" menu).}

^{To Ben Croucher of BBC Radio Kent and Jo Earle of KMFM - roving reporters extraordinaire we thank you for helping spread the word.}

Download	Name	Play	Size	Length
	Main Article BBC		16.6 MB	7:14 min
	What is the festival BBC		0.5 MB	0:12 min
	What the locals say BBC		1.6 MB	0:41 min
	Self Funding BBC		6.8 MB	2:59 min
Joomla! web design...

^{Also, the festival always needs volunteers, and this year we've worked hard to define specific tasks and timings. Please click on the "Volunteers" image at the bottom of the page to see what needs doing. If there is something you can do to help, click the item to send us an email and let us know.}

	LIVE MUSIC We have masses of quality live music for your enjoyment. Check out the various stages for more details ...		HISTORY For a bit more history around the festival and its origins, with a quite unique photographic record ...
	GALLERY Take a look in the gallery for some great pictures  - you could be famous ...		MAP To see where we are in the world and set those Sat Navs (plus a download map) ...

STOP PRESS !!!

^{Band listings are arriving as we speak, and again this year we'll be providing download tracks against each (that sends one in HINT ! HINT !) so you, our web audience of over 20,000 visitors, get a chance to hear what musical delights are in store over this fabulous weekend. Look out for the band names with a + next to them, then click on their name to see and hear more.}

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT CAME

^{Quite simply put, to everyone that attended, to all the volunteers that helped, to all the businesses that sponsored us - thankyou from Faversham Hop Festival Ltd and the people of Faversham - you made our event and we look forward to being able to do it all again this year with your continued support. Please don't forget to visit this web site regularly, we have much to offer and there is much you can do to help with just a click of your mouse.}

^{Pictures from the weekend are continually drip fed into the site, so please check out the gallery from time to time PLUS of course we have a new movie in there to whet your appetites if you've never been before.}

^{We are really excited about this years Festival and look forward to confirming details of what is planned over the next few weeks. Please keep coming back for updates as we now start to add in the many great attractions we have confirmed for the weekend, updates on the beers, ciders and other refreshments on offer plus of course useful information regarding the best value parking, camping in the festival village, getting here and more ...}

^{I've also been collecting some great feedback (email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for the Past Festivals link.}

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER (@hopfestival) for timely updates ...

^{2012 was fantastic - great bands, great stalls, great dance spots for morris and other performers and the success of the new Family Entertainment Area with the magic shows, circus workshops, trampolines, fun house and the "Faversham Eye" big wheel. We're doing the same in 2013, and for those wondering we will publish the morris dance schedule on here in their own dedicated section. Secretly, we're hoping to add a new area for 2013 as well - watch this space !}

^{We've also been able to allocate a volunteer to the task of monitoring emails sent through general "Contact Us" links at the bottom of each page, but don't forget that for specific areas its still best to login to the web site and seek the right contact point for a faster answer ... See you all again 31st August and 1st September 2013 :)}

COOKIES !

^{As simply as we can put it, our site uses cookies. We use them mainly as a security mechanism so we know, as you move from page to page, that it is still the same person's computer looking at the page as started out. Continuing to use this web site implies you agree to allow us to use them. If you don't agree with this, please either leave the site or turn off cookies (we don't know what web browser you are using so you'll have to find out how to do that using that browsers help system). They really aren't that scary though, to find out more why not click the link below:-}

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT !

^{We always need help from volunteers to act as a Steward or Marshall ... its a simple and fun job, and takes very little to get involved. For more information, click the image below or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and join in with the many others who're keeping the festival alive and well for generations to come.}