Lounge On The Farm: The Streets

Since 2006, Lounge On The Farm at Canterbury’s Merton Farm has grown in reputation and stature, from being just another music fest to becoming a genuine contender in grabbing the all important headliner.

Ellie Goulding, a farewell-bidding The Streets and veterans Echo And The Bunnymen all grace a stage as headline acts this year. Below is a sack-full of breaking bands, all seemingly on the brink of either ‘Sound of 20xx’ status or big record sales in the not so distant future. Combining this with a wealth of food stalls – showcasing local Kent produce – the festival tends to draw a varied crowd. Some of us will stick to the traditional routine of guzzling warm beer and seeing as many bands as possible, others will rent a Tee Pee for £500 before grabbing a pheasant burger.

Since our prime focus is on music, we’ll attempt not to drool over the prospect of high-standard, utterly delicious food, and we’ll look down the bill to see the likes of Jamie Woon, D/R/U/G/S and Fixers playing earlier on in the day. The average person drawn in by the bill varies like the music on offer: On the one hand we’ve chart-topper Example, on the other we’ve the sharp, ragged sound of The Joy Formidable.

Expect a laid back feel - one which the stripped-back, dulcet acoustic tones of Daughter will accommodate to – but an atmosphere very much prone to steering into party territory. A younger crowd than ever will be drawn in by Goulding, Example and Katy B – so expect a family-friendly sense of safety, with the more rowdy punters flocking towards a Dance Arena made entirely from a renovated cowshed.

Other stages range from The Sheep Dip - which showcases new talent (Moshi Moshi curate one of the days) - to Farm Folk; an area completely provided for sitting in the calm heat, watching folk music and taking stock of the festival as a whole.

But to pull in the aforementioned headliners, the organisers have also had to raise an entirely new stage, much larger than those before it. Judging the calibre of this year’s leading acts, 2011 will be the first of many years where we’ll see Lounge On The Farm raising itself to a similar level to that of Green Man or Bestival. A work no longer in progress, this might well be the first year to date where we see the festival reach its genuine potential.

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