Canterbury Live 2026
Background
In August 2026, The Fair collaborated with Supermodified to deliver full production services for Canterbury Live 2026, a three-day live music series at Kent Cricket’s St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury.
The debut series brought three major headline acts to the city across three consecutive shows: JLS, Becky Hill and Madness. With a capacity of up to 10,000 people each day, each show brought a different audience and atmosphere to the historic cricket ground.
Transforming a working cricket ground into a live music venue required careful planning throughout the build. Every element of the production needed to protect the playing surface and respect the venue, while creating the infrastructure required to safely welcome thousands of music fans each day.
The Fair led production, working alongside We Are OPS on event safety planning, risk assessments, on-site health and safety, licensing, documentation and compliance, and stakeholder liaison. It was an integrated approach designed to balance production ambition with the operational demands of the venue.
Delivery
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Delivered full event production, including site design, infrastructure, procurement, supplier management, production scheduling, budget management, artist liaison, traffic management and crowd management.
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Managed three distinct audience profiles across headline shows from JLS, Becky Hill and Madness, with operational requirements considered across each day.
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Managed a tight five-day build, coordinating suppliers and infrastructure while working within strict ground-protection requirements.
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Developed the site design around the existing infrastructure and requirements of the St Lawrence Ground, turning a professional cricket venue into a live music environment for audiences of up to 10,000 per day.
- Collaborated with We Are OPS across safety planning, risk assessments, licensing, compliance, on-site health and safety and stakeholder liaison.
Results
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10,000 thousand happy festival goers
- Completed a condensed five-day build while navigating restrictions around vehicle access, vehicle weight and ground pinning.
- Audience feedback praised the organisation of the event, ease of entry, facilities, food and drink provision, atmosphere, sound and lighting.
- Created an event site capable of welcoming audiences of up to 10,000 people per day, while protecting the cricket pitch and wider playing surface.
Audience Feedback & Press
“Absolutely superb from start to finish! A well organised event venue with good facilities and the acts were amazing.”
“Unbelievably fun. Thank you so much, will be back next year for sure.”
“The whole event struck a good balance between being busy enough to create an amazing atmosphere without feeling too cramped. There was plenty of room to move towards the front of the stage, and people actually had enough room to dance to their favourite tracks and they did right until the end.” – Kent Online