County music festival with line dancing and bucking bronco planned for Essex

Music promoters want to stage an annual country music festival in Chelmsford on the day that the once wildly popular V Festival used to be held. An application has been made for permission for the music festival to be held on August 18 at Hylands Park between midday and 1am.

Plans show a main stage and a songwriters' stage alongside a bucking bronco, a line dance hall and a bar. The park, which is owned by Chelmsford City Council has seen two festivals since V Festival made a decision not to continue in 2017.

Creamfields South, which was held in Chelmsford for two years, announced it would not return to Hylands Park in 2024 after organisers decided to concentrate the dance festival in the north. RiZE was scrapped for 2019 after just one year after failing to attract large enough audiences.

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V Festival had been running for 22 years when the decision was made to scrap it after its final event in 2017. A statement as part of a licensing statement from The Colour Project said: “ The premises is a field on the Hylands Estate, Chelmsford where we would like to host an annual country music festival. The first event would be on Sunday 18th August 2024 and then every third weekend of August for each subsequent year.”

The Colour Project has been contacted for comment.