WINCHESTER City Council has confirmed there was a significant drop in noise complaints at this year's Boomtown Fair. 

The festival welcomed 66,000 patygoers to the Matterley Bowl in the South Downs National Park over five days from Wednesday, August 10.

Huge crowds turned out in temperatures upwards of 33C for the music and theatrical festival which showcased more than 500 artists from across the world.

After two cancelled events due to Covid, Chapter One: The Gathering saw the likes of Kool and the Gang, Four Tet, Koffee, Nova Twins and more take to the stage as celebrations lasted into the early hours of Friday and Saturday morning.

READ MORE: The 30 best pictures as huge Winchester festival wraps up in style

Civic chiefs said they had a dedicated noise team working throughout the event to ensure disruption was kept to a minimum. 

The council has since revealed it received 10 complaints from residents over the extended weekend, almost half that of the 19 received in 2019.

A spokesperson said: “The council worked with the organisers before the Boomtown event to ensure the licence conditions and event management plan were adhered to – this helps us to ensure that disruption to local people is kept to a minimum.

"We had a dedicated noise team working throughout the nights of the event to manage these over the weekend. In total, we received ten noise complaints, which will be discussed in our post event meetings. In 2019, the council received 19 noise complaints."

Hampshire Chronicle: Boomtown 2022 | Picture by Scott M Salt Boomtown 2022 | Picture by Scott M Salt

Blistering temperatures posed a significant risk to those who joined in with the celebrations.

The dry conditions also led to fears of a repeat of 2016 when a fire caused by a discarded cigarette butt ripped through 80 cars parked at the festival.

But the council praised organisers for being well prepared for any such event.

It added: “This year, a number of additional plans were put in place by Boomtown to deal with the health effects of the heatwave over the weekend, such as providing additional shelters for shade and water points across site.

SEE ALSO: Boomtown 2022: Huge clean-up operation underway at South Downs National Park site

"Boomtown had a medical ‘field hospital’ on site and provided welfare teams to aid anyone affected by the heat. Boomtown’s fire fighters were also on site at all times, and Boomtown kept festivalgoers safe from preventable fires by banning disposable barbeques and camping stoves, stopping fireworks displays, providing cigarette disposal and installing additional fire breaks and equipment across the site."