A farming charity has faced criticism after it permitted use of its land to host a series of annual events with animal rights extremists.

In a three day event dubbed ‘the vegan camp-out’, vegans and animal rights activists from around the world meet annually to pitch up tents and take part in ‘workshops’.

This year, the meat-free event took place between August 30-1^st September 2019, at the Newark Showground just outside Winthorpe in rural Nottinghamshire.

The showground has also been booked for the same event in 2020, sparking fresh concern from countryside campaigners.

The decision to permit use of land for the event, which is run by the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society has been branded both “ridiculous” and “dangerous” by rural campaigning group, the Countryside Alliance.

According to the Charity Commission, the Newark and Notts Agricultural society stand for “The promotion of agriculture and related industries via the Nottinghamshire County , Midlands Machinery and Newark Vintage Tractor Shows.”

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, which has over 100,000 member across the UK said “ While at first the Vegan camp-out comes across as a place for likeminded people to meet up, exchange recipes & chomp on tofu, it’s clear there’s a much darker side to it.  If you dig beyond the flashy Instagram posts, it is a much more sinister affair.”

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He went on to say “It is totally baffling for an event, which actively encourages behaviour that terrorises our hard working farmers, to be held on land which meant to promote farming and best practice. The vegan camp-out is as much about destroying other people’s way of life as it is about celebrating the vegan lifestyle.”

“Only two weeks ago, we saw a militant vegan activist convicted of harassing & bullying a sheep farmer and his family down in Dorset. So severe were the threats he received, that he was forced to check under his tractor for bombs . And less than 15 miles up the road, is a pig farm that saw dopey animal rights activists kill piglets as part of so-called direct action, the same type taught at this event.”

Speakers at the 3-day all-vegan menu jolly, included Ronnie Lee, a convicted animal rights extremist, who founded the Animal Liberation Front; a violent organisation that inflicts terror on farmers. Canadian anti- dairy farming preacher Erin Janus who used youtube to carry her message that “dairy is scary”.

Also featured was Australian activist and failed Aussie election candidate James Aspey, who’s nauseating rants include comparing farming practises to rape and the holocaust. Speaking at the showground, he said “ if we replaced them (animals) with humans in these factory farms and slaughterhouses, we would call it the holocaust. If you put a human into these cages where animals are forcibly impregnated, we would call it rape"

Children are also encouraged to head along to the youth zone, organised by ‘Grow UP Vegan’, which provides them the opportunity to wear flashy virtual eyewear complete with images from inside slaughterhouses, produced by the ‘anarchist collective’ group ‘unoffensive animal’.

As well as its controversial line up, participants were given lectures in ‘grassroots activism’, that equip eager fresh recruits with the intel and enthusiasm needed to wreak havoc and misery on farmers through “direct action”.

During one of the talks, Dora Hargitai of Animal Rebellion which works closely with Extinction Rebellion, laid out their plans to disrupt Smithfield Market in October, the UK’s largest wholesale meat market in the UK through “civil disobedience”.

Recent stories in the press, including the conviction of an animal rights extremist Emma Christoforakis for bullying and harassing a Dorset sheep farmer, as well the recent reports of invasions of pig and pheasant farms show that the threat to farmers is very real.

Ticket sales for the camp-out for 2020 at the showground have opened.

The Countryside Alliance has confirmed that it will be vocal in letting its concerns known to the society’s trustees, many of whom are farmers.

“I seriously hope the Society reconsider whether allowing it to take place on their grounds, if in keeping with their own honourable objectives.” said Tim Bonner.