London - A man has died and an unconscious woman has been taken to hospital at a sex festival in a quiet town in Kent. Police are investigating the death of a man following the Flamefest festival in Tunbridge Wells, which took place over the weekend. An unconscious woman also received medical treatment and was taken to a local hospital by air ambulance, Kent Police said.
It was the second year Flamefest, which boats an S&M dungeon and a “discreet adult play area” staffed by dominatrixes, has been held. The self-billed “kinky rave festival” sparked outrage in Tunbridge Wells, which is famed for its residents expressing their disgust in letters to newspapers. Around 250 people paid up to £300 to stay in boutique tents at the festival, which promised to be “furnished with fetish play equipment” where campers could “explore pain, experience pleasure and fulfil your fantasies”.
Organiser Helen Smedley created the festival “to bring together the purest, most hedonistic elements of the party scene”, according to its website. Ms Smedley declined to comment on the unexplained death.
A police spokesperson said: “Kent Police is making inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding an unexplained death in Tunbridge Wells. Officers were called by South East Coast Ambulance Service at 6.14am on Tuesday 22 August 2017 to a medical incident at a campsite in Powder Mill Lane, Tunbridge Wells.
“Patrols and ambulance crews went to the scene where a man was pronounced dead. The death is being treated as unexplained at this stage. In addition, an unconscious woman received medical treatment and was taken to a local hospital by air ambulance.”