I have been a visitor to the lovely town of Faversham and indeed its Hop Festival on a number of occasions at the invitation of residents and have been deeply struck by its charm, its sense of community and the way I was welcomed as an outsider. As many people here know, as someone who has been involved in traditional music and dance all my life I absolutely don't describe myself as a "f*lkie", precisely because of this sort of attitude from some who do. I observe it all over (not just in North Kent): people who invade, take over pubs and contribute nothing. You think this sounds like the Chavs? Yes, but they're big ones who should know better, usually with beards, bodhráns, banjos and . . . I can't think of a synonym for whingeing that begins with 'B'. The Hopfest is a celebration of the hop harvest with as much history of the real working population of the town as any feast day anywhere, and is certainly a lotmore "authentic" than recently revived Green Persons. You wouldn't, after all, turn up at Bampton abnd start telling the villagers they'd got it all wrong . . . would you? It's their custom and celebratory practice. And the Hopfest belongs to the people of Faversham and should be respected as such.