Hop Farm site 'cursed'

The latest organiser of the Hop Farm Music Festival at Paddock Wood Neil Butkeraitis, says the festival will not continue, adding he believes "It is cursed ground." The original Hop Farm event was cancelled in 2013 by Vince Power due to poor ticket sales and a series of loss making events, and returned this summer under new management - although this faced the threat of legal action from Power over the use of the already existing name and logos. Power himself faced legal action over unpaid PRS fees and the High Court has now banned him from promoting,  The Kent Messenger now says that Butkeraitis's Hop Farm Music Festival Ltd is to be the subject of liquidation proceedings next month. Butkeraitis resigned as a director earlier this month, citing financial disagreements that left contractors unpaid, including his own production and security firms. Butkeraitis told the Messenger "In 10 years in the industry this has never happened to me. The event was delivered under our £3 million budget - what didn’t stick up was ticket sales but the festival was part of a three year plan for the site.