Isle of Wight's Rhythmtree Festival is on the move but where to?

Rhythmtree Festival, which has hosted big names like The Lightning Seeds, Stereo MC's and Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant with his band Saving Grace, has become a staple of the Island's festival calendar since it started in 2010.

In recent years the festival has been held at Three Gates Farm, in Shalfleet, but the location may now be changing.

In a licensing application to the Isle of Wight Council, the organisers behind the event, Rhythmtree Festival Ltd, are hoping to obtain a new premise licence for land at Sticelett Farm, on Rolls Hill in Cowes.

The distance between the two sites. Picture by Google Maps.

The outdoor festival will have four music stages, two entertainment stages, four bars and off-site entertainment and attractions.

The licence would be for any three-day period in July but it is asking for it to start from July 8 — the date scheduled on the Rhythmtree website.

Due to Covid, the festival has been cancelled and postponed for the last two years.

In a statement released last year, the festival said it hoped people would be free to reunite for the festival they know and love, 'hopefully with the world a much safer and freer'.

On its website, the festival teases exciting news is coming soon but there has been no confirmation the event is moving, as it still says the festival will take place in Shalfleet.

A provisional site plan has however been devised for the 2022 festival based at Sticelett Farm, although it was drawn in 2021.

The proposed site plan for Cowes. Picture by Neil Roberts.

The licence is looking to play films, live music, recorded music and hold dance performances as well as providing late-night refreshment and alcohol.

You can view licensing documents, 22/00037/LAPNEW, on the council's portal.