Ticket sales fall as music festivals hit a flat note

Vince Power's Music Festivals group yesterday warned that economic woes are hitting sales at its Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent and its Benicassim event in Spain.

Mr Power, who used to run the Mean Fiddler concert venues, said tickets for Hop Farm, which takes place at the end of June and features Bob Dylan as the headline act, are "slower than last year".

Benicassim, which is held in mid-July, is also suffering from flagging ticket sales, despite announcing some big-name acts including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and New Order.

Music Festivals made a pre-tax profit of £796,000 on sales of £13m last year.