If you happen to be venturing to the UK this summer and are a lover of rock music, you might want to set a few days aside to visit the Ramblin’ Man Fair music festival at Mote Park in Kent, south-eastern England. Back for its third year, the festival, which takes place from July 28-30, promises in 2017 to be bigger and better than ever.
Mote Park is situated on 450 acres of undulating parkland at the foot of the North Downs in the Weald of Kent, the ‘Garden of England’. It used to be a private mansion and estate but was bought by Maidstone Borough Council in 1929 for the princely sum of 50,000 English pounds. It features a collection of public sports fields, a wonderful lake for sailing, fishing and model boats, and a leisure centre with swimming pools and gyms. All of this is nestled amongst the hop fields and apple orchards of Kent.
Once a year the grounds give way to the Ramblin’ Man Fair, a wonderful three-day event for all the family and music connoisseurs and the festival could not be more perfectly situated, with plenty of parking areas and easy access by road, rail, or bus services. The event provides ‘glamping’, camping, and a site for mobile homes as well as giving advice on the varied accommodations in the area. The fair itself is only a fifteen minute walk from Maidstone town centre.
When it gets to 4.00 pm on Friday, July 28, the doors will open to the main arena which holds over 100 different food stalls offering every kind of cuisine you can imagine. There are whisky tents, a children’s fair ground, motorbike shows, a wall of death, a fun fair and, perhaps most importantly, huge banks of clean amenities for the Ramblin’ Man audience. This fair is not just for old rockers but the whole family as well.
With regards to the music side of things, there are rock’n’roll bands in abundance with four stages set well enough apart so there is almost no sound bleed from one to another. And what magnificent bands they have lined up this year too. From America, the mighty ZZ Top, the funk/rock of Extreme, the prog rock of Kansas and the heavy metal of Y&T, as well as some of the best British bands including UFO, one of the finest bands to ever tread the boards, Rival Sons, Magnum, and more heavy metal from Saxon.
All told, there are over 60 bands that will take to the various stages over the three days, and we must not forget the ‘Rising Stage’ where up and coming bands get to flaunt their stuff.
Unlike any other music festival, it is the atmosphere here that really makes Ramblin’ Man stand out. Friends are made quickly and easily and the organizers never make the mistake of over-selling it, with crowds kept down to 15,000. In the amount of space they have, this is not too many people and allows plenty of room to enjoy yourself whilst rambling (sic) from the beer tent to one of the stages whilst eating home-made pie and chips or whatever grabs your fancy.
For tickets, and all that comes with it, please look up the Ramblin’ Man website at www.ramblinmanfair.com.
Note: Mott the Dog can usually be found in his kennel at Jameson’s Irish Pub, Nova Park, Soi AR in Pattaya.
