Boomtown Festival will continue to take place in the South Downs National Park until 2030, despite objections from residents and environmental campaigners.
The festival takes place at the Matterley Estate near Winchester every August and the capacity has been capped at 75,999, with an extra 1,000 festivalgoers on the Sunday.
The application was approved unanimously by the South Downs National Park Authority, despite objections from some locals and those who opposed it on environmental grounds.
Local resident Alisson Mathews, who lives just two miles from the site, told the BBC that she “heard the bass beat almost constantly in our house and garden” across the five-day festival and her family would be left “exhausted by the lack of sleep” by the Sunday night.
“As a former member of the national park partnership, I find it particularly disappointing to see the park authority failing its residents by ignoring its first purpose and doing nothing to encourage Boomtown to find an alternative venue outside the protected landscape.”
Meanwhile, Christopher Langford argued that the development doesn’t belong in a national park.
He said: “The officer’s report admits this is a major development which would generally be refused but argues there are exceptional circumstances. That is very subjective, and I disagree.
“We are now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. National parks should be havens for nature, not environments damaged by large-scale music festivals.
“Is the national park the right place for this development? I can’t see anywhere in the 78 pages of the plan a place for something like this. Why adopt a plan and then immediately breach it? Please fulfil your duty and protect nature.”
However, the festival had to commit to a series of environmental measures as part of the application. These include the creation of a 4.2-acre on-site biodiversity net gain meadow by the South Downs Way, the installation of three new barn owl boxes, and the retention of 23 existing bird, bat and owl boxes.
Each year, an independent ecological survey will be carried out annually to monitor wildlife such as bats, breeding birds, badgers, butterflies, reptiles and grassland habitats.
Director of Boomtown, Shula Rael, defended the proposal, saying: “The people behind the festival understand the purpose of this park. We take those responsibilities seriously, and we deliver against them.”
Councillor Janet Duncton supported the application, saying she had had a positive experience of the event herself.
“I’ve visited the site before, during and after the festival, and in my view it has been well managed.
“A lot of people get a great deal of pleasure from this, and don’t we all need a bit of that? I think five years is a perfectly reasonable time to allow them to continue.”
This year’s Boomtown Fair will take place from August 12-16. Kneecap, along with New York glam icons Scissor Sisters and ska heavyweights Madness are leading the line-up.
Joining them on the bill is techno DJ and producer Skrillex, electronic music visionary Four Tet and British dance pioneers Faithless, who will be celebrating their 30th anniversary at the event next year.
Others announced for the 2026 edition include Shaggy, Ashnikko, Eve, Sherelle, Groove Armada, Floating Points, Shy FX, Princess Nokia, Sampa the Great, High Vis, Big Special, Vengaboys, Skindred and Antony Szmierek.
