It would have been so much nicer if Richard Bridges had taken time to talk to the people concerned.
My name is Chris Maclean and I am the licensee of the Railway.
The Hop Festival is a tremendous part of Faversham's calendar and we are all proud to be part of it. But it isn't a folk festival. It isn't a beer festival. Indeed I heard it described, somewhat harshly, as "a flea market with pubs doing cheap music". But it is amazingly popular and tremendous fun. But no group can lay legitimate claim to all of it.
In the four years we have run this pub we've never had to call the police. We've never had a problem. To suggest they "closed us down" is hurtful.
We are, primarily, a business. What we provide delivers. To suggest we abandon this for some sing-alongs is economic lunacy. For the first two years I suffered Mark Lawson's Dead Horse Morris singing in the afternoons. Nothing drove people from my pub faster. (and I like Mark).
There are pubs who embrace the folk tradition. The Crown and Anchor and Elephant have been mentioned. The Bear (and now the Chimney Boy under new (same) ownership). The Three Tuns and the Mechanics. The Phoenix.
Richard, if you have the courage to do so, I'll gladly chat to you about it. But, in the mean time, I'd be happier if you didn't act so devisively. The Hop festival is in jeopardy ~ don't be the one to destroy it.

Chris