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Martha Reeves Brought A Heatwave To Lounge On The Farm

• 20th Jul 2010

The fifth birthday celebrations for Kent's bestest festival, Lounge on the Farm (LOTF), went off with a resounding bang as record crowd numbers basked in the sunshine of 2010s hottest weekend. With over 200 bands playing across six stages and a full comedy & theatre line up throughout the weekend the event was once again a triumphant success.

LOTF promoter Matt Gough said: 'What an astounding weekend to celebrate our fifth birthday on the farm! We're now well and truly making our mark as one of the south-east's biggest and bestest summer events, and we're ready to keep bringing the best music, best food and best farm animals to this corner of Kent for a good while yet'.

With more than 1000 revellers taking advantage of gates opening on Thursday evening, Lounge on the Farm got underway on Friday with a set from Medway locals Slap Alice with the sun beating down on Merton Farm. Highlights throughout the day included Male Bonding and These New Puritans in the Sheepdip, Quantic and his Combo Barbaoro on the Furthur stage, Beardy Man and DJ Yoda getting the Hoedown jumping and The Phenomenal Handclap Band and Example rocking the Cowshed.

With the mercury tipping 32 degrees Saturday's 7000 strong crowd enjoyed sets from Wichita and Moshi Moshi's impressive rosters in the Sheepdip. There were also stand out sets across the site from The Glimmers in the Howdown, The Agitator on the Farm Folk stage, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Jah Wobble on The Furthur stage, a capacity crowd for Howard Marks, Mr Nice himself in the Playhouse and a truly legendary hit-packed set from Martha Reeves & The Vandellas who celebrated 50 years of Motown with the Cowshed's biggest ever crowd, making for a true 'I was there…' moment.

Lounge on the Farm's final day saw Pineapple Dance Studios' star Lekiddo Lord of the Lobsters Wake Up Call on the Band Stand getting festival goers in the mood for another sun-drenched and jam-packed day of fun that included Kent's finest new band Onlookers wowing an overflowing Sheepdip stage as they lived up to their ones to watch tag. Other high points from a wealth of Sunday entertainment included Phill Jupitus & His Improv Allstars' off the cuff hilarity keeping a Playhouse crowd, which extended more than 15 rows back from the tent, in stitches, there were also myriad musical treats from the likes of Don Letts, Polar Bear, Cocos Lovers, Club Royale, Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer and Gaggle plus a ska-fulled double header in the Cowshed that began with a high-octane performance from 2-Tone front runners Bad Manners and was wrapped up by a sublime lesson in riddim from one of the all-time greatest purveyors of Reggae, Toots & the Maytals, that brought the main stage program to a stunning close.

Aside from the amazing music and comedy there was plenty of extracurricular activity on offer all weekend including roaming theatre performances, pottery lessons, beatbox, breakdancing and DJ Scratching workshops, baby yoga, crazy science, arts and crafts and even fish pedicures that were the talk of the entire festival. And Lounge on the Farm proved once again that it is streets ahead of the competition when it comes to festival fare with the likes of Merton burgers, made from cows reared on the farm itself and Al's Hog Roast drawing high praise from all.

Now that the dust has settled on Lounge on the Farm 2010, it's time to start looking forward to 2011, so you'll be pleased to hear that LOTF have already put Early Bird Tickets for next year's festival on sale at super attractive inflation and VAT rise busting prices, numbers are limited, so get in there while you can:

Lounge On The Farm: 8th to 10th July, 2011
Family Weekend – £190.00
Adult Weekend – £85.00
Youth Weekend – £65.00
Child Weekend – £40.00
Campervan – £40.00
Tot – £1.00

With plans already well underway for 2011 make sure you keep checking link for more information