Festival survives review following man's death

Boomtown Festival takes place near Winchester in August

A festival has survived a review that followed the death of a man at the event in 2024, and complaints from people living nearby.

Winchester City Council's licensing committee decided not to change the premises licence for alcohol and music for Boomtown, in Hampshire, that will run from 10 to 15 August.

The council decided to review the festival's license after Hampshire Constabulary applied to look at the running of the event, following the death of a 22-year-old man last year.

The police then withdrew their complaint before the sub-committee meeting and are in ongoing talks with organisers to resolve its concerns for this year's event, the committee heard.

Councillors also heard 17 complains from local residents about the festival, which started in 2010.

Objections raised ranged from lack of sleep during the event, to concerns on the impact on local red listed bird populations.

A festival organiser said they chose the site for Boomtown because of the beauty of the South Downs National Park, had no intention of destroying the environment and were looking to showcase it to visitors.

Ecological concerns

One objector, Terence Jones, said that between 200 and 250 hectares of the 444-hectare site used for camping and car parks were mowed, taking away habitats from ground nesting birds.

He said his bird count after the event indicated this mowing impacted the birds' numbers.

Boomtown's solicitor Matthew Phipps said they was no proof birds were dying.

Alison Mathews objected to the noise during the event, especially music playing until 04:00 BST on a Friday and Saturday, adding that midnight would be more acceptable.

Other concerns were the impact of traffic and strobe lighting on unsuspecting drivers.

Despite the objections the licence was not changed.

Bands performing this year include Maribou State, Sex Pistols and Sean Paul.

Boomtown is also planning to increase its capacity, with a separate application to the South Downs National Park Authority stating it wants to increase attendee numbers from 65,999 to 76,999.