Joe GallopEssex-based independent music festival Zenfest has been given the green light to move to a new location, with a capacity increase of 1,000.
Organised by co-founders Stefan Poelman and Sam Cottrell, the one-day electronic music festival has been given council approval to host 4,000 people at King’s Farm, Writtle on 19 August.
The festival was expanded last year to host 3,000 people at Kelvedon Hall – an Edwardian manor house next to a lake near Brentwood, Essex.
Poelman and Cottrell, who also work for marketing company AVO Agency, launched the festival in 2016 at the age of 18, off the back of their clothing range Zen Apparel.
A licensing committee by Chelmsford City Council discussed the organisers’ application for a new premises license last week, where some councillors and residents raised fears over noise and swearing from DJs. The committee approved the license on the condition that organisers provide a complaints telephone number and keep a log of any complaints.
The festival, which will host artists such as Toman, The Shapeshifters and Seb Zito, will finish at 11pm, with no acts allowed to speak through microphones.
Poelman said the event would have a noise management plan, with a team on site monitoring the sound desk and levels in areas around the festival.
He said his team will work with acoustic management team, F1 Acoustics, which has a portfolio of festival clients including Glastonbury and Boomtown.