Revised plans for expanded Vale music festival

Belvoir Castle, which will provide the backdrop for the Forbidden Festival music event this year

Organisers of a controversial music festival in the Vale of Belvoir have submitted a revised licence application to allow them to have thousands of extra attendees at the scheduled event this summer.

If it is approved, the Forbidden Forest Festival, on Knipton Pastures and Frog Hollow, in the grounds of Belvoir Castle, can accommodate 24,999 people over five days instead of the 14,999 persons for a four-day festival its current licence allows for.

When the electronic dance festival was held last June over four days, local councillors and residents complained to Melton Borough Council about traffic, noise and general disruption caused by the event.

And when the new licence was submitted in September it attracted more objections during the public consultation process.

Festival organisers have now sent in an updated application in which it states they have addressed the concerns of local people.

In a report on the new Forbidden Forest Festival proposals, to go before members of the council’s licensing sub-committee on Monday January 22, it states: “The applicant has taken on board the concerns raised in the letters of objection lodged against the September 2023 application and this has informed the revised application, most notably the inclusion of Thursdays to allow for a festival goers to arrive over a longer period of time, lessening the potential impact on those who live in the vicinity.

"No day tickets will be sold for either the Thursday or Friday, thus ensuring that festival goers only arrive on that day and do not leave.”

It is also stated in the report that the festival organisers want to strengthen links with local residents by setting up a formal community liaison group, providing a complaints hotline and pledging to respond quickly to any complaints and issues.

The event is scheduled to go ahead between Friday May 31 and Sunday June 2, with Thursday an arrival day for campers and Monday the departure day.

If the new application is approved, all licensable activities in the festival site area – including music and dancing – will have to end at 11pm each night.

Supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises would be allowed on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 3am.