With Glastonbury out of the way, the summer festival season is in full swing, but Emma Brady spoke to promoter Vince Power on why size doesn't matter to music fans.

----

As the reputedly fearsome boss of Mean Fiddler, the organsiation behind the Leeds/ Reading Festival and the Fleadh, Vince Power is a relatively quiet man.

However, despite selling his stake in the company for £38 million to US giant Clear Channel in 2005, the 61-year-old still has much to say as he returns to the summer scene with an event without the backing of big name brands or a sponsorship deal.

Having kept his oar in by promoting the Benicassim Festival in Valencia, Spain - "It's like Reading, but with sunshine" - the disarmingly quiet Irishman managed to "call in a few favours" from the likes of Neil Young, Primal Scream and The Guillemotts to stage the Hop Farm Festival in Kent on Sunday.

"This is my first festival back in the UK since I sold Mean Fiddler, and during that time the industry has changed considerably, not necessarily for the better," explains Mr Power.

"I had publicly said I was looking forward to retirment but I also had this big fear that I'd be forgotten and end up on a junk pile somewhere, so I had to do something.

"In the meantime lots of smaller, boutique events have risen up from the shadows cast by the main players like Glastonbury, Reading, and V festivals.

"It had all become so corporate, it was almost as if the music or the paying punters didn't matter, it all seemed to revolve around what colour wristband you had and getting into VIP areas. That's the mentality that the Hop Farm Festival is kicking against."

Sunday's line-up, which also includes Rufus Wainwright, Supergrass, My Morning Jacket, Laura Marling and Everest, is an eclectic mix which may be partly owed to his time at the Irish Centre, in Digbeth, during the 1980s.

"I put on a fair few bands there while I was in Birmingham, and Mean Fiddler also brought a number of tours to the Hummingbird back then. It was an interesting scene at the time," added Mr Power.

For all his assertions that the Hop Farm Festival, being staged in Paddock Wood, Kent, will resist corporate interference, he plans to make it a three-day event from next year.

But being the boss does have its drawbacks.

"When you run events like this you do it to put your heroes on but when it comes to it, you're so busy making sure everything's safe and running smoothly that you never get to see them," he said.

"However if I don't catch any of Neil's set, I'll enjoy a cold beer at about 11.30pm when it's all over and everyone's gone home."

* Tickets for the Hop Farm Festival are £49.50 plus booking fee. For more information go to hopfarmfestival.com or call 0871 220 0260.