Latitude Festival: Organiser says capacity may increase

Waterproof clothing was necessary for the 35,000-strong festival audience

The organiser of Suffolk's Latitude Festival says he may increase the size of the site in the future.

The festival, which took place at the weekend at Henham Park near Southwold, had a capacity of 35,000 people.

Melvin Benn, director of the promoter Festival Republic, said: "I may look to go to 40 [thousand] at some point but 35 feels about right at the moment."

The festival had rain for the second year running, but no performances were cancelled due to the weather.

The capacity of the festival started at about 20,000 in its first year in 2006 and has steadily grown since then.

Mr Benn said: "The weather has been a challenge - not a single performance was disrupted because of the weather and that is a remarkable achievement.

"The audience didn't seem to let the weather conditions deter them at all - they were there to enjoy the festival, and crikey they certainly did."

Mr Benn's personal highlight was pianist Lang Lang performing on the floating stage on the lake on Sunday morning, which he described as "extraordinary".

"He came on to the stage via a gondola, which had only been decided 15 minutes earlier, and he adored it," he said.

"There must have been 7,000 -10,000 people spread along the banks and watching from the bridge. Quite frankly it was magical."