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Controversial annual Forbidden Forest dance music festival set to go ahead at Belvoir Castle after licence approved




A massive dance music festival is set to take place at Belvoir Castle every year after organisers promised to try to limit the effects of ‘pulsating’ bass and late-night traffic on local residents.

More than 30,000 were reported to have attended Forbidden Forest in the castle’s grounds in July, with performances and DJ sets from music icons including Basement Jaxx, Craig David and Chase and Status, as well as jungle legends Andy C and Sub Focus.

But after organisers submitted an application for a permanent licence to hold the event at the historic venue, residents of nearby villages just across the Lincolnshire border complained to Melton Borough Council that noise from the festival meant they were unable to use their gardens or even have windows open in the middle of summer.

Forbidden Forest festival. © Photography by Ben Hale for Here & Now (fb.com/wearehereandnow) (57510583)
Forbidden Forest festival. © Photography by Ben Hale for Here & Now (fb.com/wearehereandnow) (57510583)

One couple said they had to postpone a family party they’d been looking forward to after two years of Covid disruption, while another resident said heavy vehicles rumbled through village lanes delivering equipment in the lead up to the festival, with traffic clogging roads until 1am as people departed the event.

During a licensing meeting this week, Felicity Tulloch, a solicitor representing the organisers, said they had been talking with villagers, adding there was a desire on both sides for ‘greater consultation and dialogue’.

In a letter to Melton Borough council, Mr and Mrs Sharp, from Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir, said: “… the noise levels from the Forbidden Forest festival were the worst we have ever experienced from any other event held on the Belvoir Estate.

"It made it impossible to be outside our property or to have the windows open, which I’m sure you can appreciate was not ideal in July. The noise levels were such that we even had to postpone a family birthday celebration, which was not just inconvenient for us but was also upsetting for some family members after Covid-19 had already disrupted so many get-togethers.”

Robin Pape, of Denton, also wrote to the council. “We experienced pulsating low frequency pressure waves from the event music continuously for 11 hours on Saturday and 10 hours on Sunday,” he said. “Traffic was near-continuous for hours on end. Large numbers of HGVs used the route through Denton instead of the A52, routinely ignoring the 7.5 tonne weight limit sign.”

Mr Pape appeared at the meeting to suggest closing the road through Denton during the festival as ‘a solution to the problem’. He also asked for speakers to be pointed away from all villages and stressed authorities in Lincolnshire must be consulted as well as those in Leicestershire.

Denton Parish Council set out a number of concerns in a letter, including traffic and noise, noting ‘the amount of drugs confiscated’ by police. The letter said: “If the total amount of 30,000 people that attended the Forbidden Festival over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd July is correct, it is certainly a lot, en masse for a small area.”

But Simon Greensmith, licensing and compliance officer, said there had only been three official complaints made after the event, all about noise. “One was from a cyclist who had his ride ruined,” he explained. Ms Tulloch said: “There are of course learnings to be made and that’s why we applied for a one-off licence as a test event but are back before you now for a permanent one. The police are happy and didn’t raise any objections at all; the environmental health team is happy.”

She said organisers consulted with locals prior to making the application and had spoken with residents attending the hearing before it started. “Just this morning we had a very useful chat ahead of the hearing. Without speaking out of turn, I don’t think there’s a desire to see it refused, there’s a real desire for [local residents] to be included going forward.”

Councillors voted to approve the licence subject to conditions, including that organisers continue to engage with neighbouring parish councils – including those outside the borough – and that ‘every effort is made’ to point speakers away from nearby villages.



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