THE Wickham Festival is still very much on despite a poster near Winchester claiming it was cancelled.

The banner at the Bushfield Camp roundabout near St Cross was daubed with a paper notice saying the show was off.

Organiser, Peter Chegwyn, said the notice was a hoax and they were checking to see if more posters have been defaced.

“Someone unknown to us has been putting ‘cancelled’ stickers on some of our poster boards. Goodness knows why,” he said.

The festival, which runs from Thursday, August 4 to Sunday, August 7, will be held at Blind Lane near Wickham Community Centre.

It will be headlined by Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra along with living legend Rolf Harris and his band.

It will be the only UK festival slot this summer for the 81-year-old’s Rock 'n' Rolf Show.

Other performers include Eddi Reader, Toyah, The Men They Couldn’t Hang and BBC Folk Award winners Bellowhead.

The schedule also includes a talk by veteran politician Tony Benn at the community centre on the Friday evening.

The festival will also offer street theatre, storytelling, children’s entertainers, a solar-powered cinema tent, morris dancing, exotic food, real ale and a craft fair.

Mr Chegwyn said: “It’s a real coup for a little village like Wickham to attract top-class entertainers like Jools Holland and Rolf Harris.”

He added: “Wickham is a very safe and family-friendly festival with something for everyone including lots of free fun and games for the kids.”

The festival is back in Wickham for the second year after a spell at Stokes Bay in Gosport. Before that, it was held in both Wickham and Eastleigh.

Visit www.wickhamfestival.co.uk for more details and for tickets, which start at £25 per session or £120 for the whole event.