A popular festival has been saved after volunteer organisers shelved it, admitting they struggled to cope with thousands of visitors.

Kent County Agricultural Society, which puts on the Kent County Show, has stepped in to save Biddenden Tractorfest, which will now run in 2020.

The announcement comes just two months after volunteer organisers pulled the plug on the festival.

This year's festival saw a 17,000-strong crowd descend on the Woolpack Corner, Biddenden venue, where 250 tractors were on show. But torrential rain hit hard, leaving fields completely waterlogged and visitors' cars stuck in mud, some of which had to be hauled out by tractor.

It was the seventh Tractorfest and organisers admitted it had become 'a victim of its own success' as they battled problems in the aftermath when they faced disappointed visitors and refund requests.

Kent County Agricultural Society has been in talks with Tractorfest chairman Sue Boon and announced today the event will be staged at Woolpack Corner over the weekend of August 15-16, 2020. Many of the volunteers behind the event are set to resume their roles.

Julian Barnes, vice chairman of the Kent County Agricultural Society, owner of Biddenden Vineyards and village resident said: “When I heard that Sue and all the volunteers felt they could no longer continue to organise Biddenden Tractorfest along its current lines, I knew that we needed to find a way for this important event in Biddenden village to continue. The aims of the volunteers that set up the event are very much in line with the charitable objectives of the Kent County Agricultural Society, so it made sense for the two to discuss the opportunities available.”

The Kent County Agricultural Society has supported education and improvement in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and related industries since its foundation in 1923.

Sue Boon and her committee are fully behind the move and happy that visitors will be able to continue to attend the popular festival and to enjoy it for years to come.

Stand applications for Biddenden Tractorfest have opened, with tickets going on sale in the new year. For more information click here.

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