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Video: Preparations continue on site for Lounge On The Farm 2010.

by Adam Williams

Canterbury’s Merton Farm is set to rock to a mix of motown, reggae and disco this weekend at the Lounge On The Farm music festival.

The mix of music, entertainment and locally-sourced food and drink returns for its fifth year and almost 7,000 people look set to pass through the gates from Friday afternoon.

With an increasingly busy and competitive festival circuit, both nationally and across Kent, organiser Matt Gough remains confident they have a unique product to offer.

He said: “There’s plenty of new additions this year with theatre and comedy stages and the actual number of music stages is up to nine.

“So, what we’re hoping to create is a bit of a cafe culture, with quirky bits and bobs that will make your weekend enjoyable.”

Last weekend, legends Bob Dylan and Van Morrison wowed thousands at Paddock Wood’s Hop Farm Festival, showing Kent is now has a healthy representation when it comes to summer festivals.

But Matt (pictured) still believes the attraction and demand for live music across the county and in Canterbury is as strong as when they started in 2006.

He added: “Finding a niche or unique selling point would probably be quite impossible if we tried starting up a festival now.

“But, we have been doing what we do for five years now and there’s still nobody out there who does our local kind of sourcing, our relevance to the community and singing and shouting about the local area.

“It wins us a lot of acclaim and hopefully provides a weekend that lots of people can get involved with.”

Headlining the main Cow Shed stage will be New Yorkers Hercules & Love Affair, Motown legends Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (pictured right) and reggae pioneers Toots and The Maytals.

Other highlights include Fulham MC and electro rapper Example in the Cow Shed on Friday, family trio Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, who headline the Farm Folk stage on Saturday, with a mix of old style country and western, blues and swing and The God of Hellfire himself, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, in The Furthur Tent on Saturday.

But music is not the only entertainment on offer during the weekend. Stand-up comedy makes its Lounge On The Farm debut, including performances from Phill Jupitus and his Improv Allstars, plus a candid one-man show from former FBI most wanted man and drug runner Howard Marks.

Weekend and day tickets are still available both online and in person.

Call 0844 888 9991 or for a full list of prices, visit www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk