Parking & Camping

Parking and Camping (PLEASE NOTE: These are separate charges)

^Cars

^{The best place to park is at the Abbey School (please see map at bottom of page for location and directions). The car park will be attended by our marshals to help ensure security, and we have the cheapest all day charge in the town's paid for parking at just £5 for a full 24 hours.}

^{We are expecting a lot of visitors to this event, so to avoid pointless frustration driving around looking for somewhere to leave your vehicle, why not come straight to this easy to find area just off the M2 and sitting on the A2. You'll also get a free Hop Festival programme.}

^{The 5 minute walk into town from the Abbey School is pleasant, quick and achievable by a number of routes (including the one straight down The Mall letting you sample, early on, the liquid delights on offer at The Crown and Anchor and The Elephant. The Elephant has a delightful "secret garden" that you may like to languish in before venturing into town).}

^{This year we also have our "Hop Festival Ceilidh" on the grounds of the school on Saturday evening - tickets are just £5, it starts at 7:30pm and there is a licensed bar BUT numbers will be limited so get in early.}

^{Finally, the money collected (less costs which include hire of the facility) will go straight to funding future festivals, so your help in using this area would be doubly appreciated.}

Other areas for car parking are:-

^{Car Park Location}	^Spaces	^{Disabled Spaces}	^{Maximum Times}	^Charges

^{Ospringe Street}	²⁰		^Anytime
^{Front Brents}	¹²		^Anytime	^FREE
^{Partridge Lane}	⁵⁵		^{4 hours}	^{£3.00 (£70 overstay)}
^{Queen's Hall}	¹⁴⁰		^{4 hours}	^{£3.00 (£70 overstay)}
^{Central Car Park}	²³⁴	8	^{4 hours}	^{£3.00 (£70 overstay)}
^{Institute Road}	⁴¹	⁷	^{4 hours}	^{£3.00 (£70 overstay)}
^{Station Car Park}	¹⁵⁰⁺	¹

^Coaches

^{Large coaches can park at Brogdale Farm (home of the national fruit collection) as per last year and the charge is £15 per vehicle per day.}

^{For smaller coaches (up to 16 seater) we have some capacity at Abbey School. The charge will, for this year of 2012, be £5 per vehicle per day. We are anticipating having a "shuttle" taxi service in operation between the official festival parking site and the festival area itself but we're just finalising the details on this so check back here later.}

^{The prescribed route for coach drop-off and pick-up points is as follows:-}

^{To enter town, from the A2 go down Love Lane, along Whitstable Road, turn left at the traffic lights and into Newton Road. There is a bus stop by the public library which is one of the two pick-up and drop-off points.}

^{To exit town, continue up Newton Rd, turn right to the station. There is another bus stop here for dropping off and pick-up. Next follow the road up to the A2, turn right and then first left into Brogdale Rd.}

^Camping

^{Camping is available at the Abbey School as usual, but this year is being organised by the Hop Festival. Tents, campervans and caravans are all charged at £5 per night (PLEASE NOTE: If you bring a vehicle, you will also have to pay the car parking charge as it is separate to the camping charge). If you arrive on Saturday morning, you can pay our car park marshals. If you arrive on Friday night, they will be around to collect your monies at about 9 o'clock on Saturday morning.}

^{PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE AT THE SCHOOL BEFORE MIDDAY ON THE FRIDAY}

^{You must be off the premises by midday on the Monday morning (in case you do not feel able to drive after enjoying yourself on Sunday!).}

^{Toilets will be cleaned and serviced regularly, and showers are available in the Sports Hall between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday.}