Ferocious Dog’s last ever appearance at the Wickham Festival will be an emotionally-charged event.

After 25 years on the road, the band are splitting up in November as lead singer Ken Bonsall fulfils his promise to retire and spend more time with his wife Karen.

The hugely popular folk-punk rockers are currently in the middle of a farewell tour which sees them play a final date at Wickham on Saturday August 1. They will also call in at Southampton’s 1865 venue on October 24 before finishing with a huge gig at Nottingham’s Rock City on November 28.

But Bonsall stressed that the final string of dates would not have been complete without one last show at the Wickham Festival which has a special place in his heart.

He said: “When we announced we were calling it a day, we were inundated with calls about Wickham with people telling us we had to go there on our final tour… so here we are.

“I think this will be our fifth time here each time moving further up the bill – and it will be emotional. We have some great memories from Wickham.

“It means something to us and it has been great to see it evolve over the years from a folk festival to the wonderful event it has become. And to get folk-punk on the main stage is pretty special.

“We started on a side stage and worked our way up until we were sub-headlining with the Levellers last time. We had such a brilliant time on the main stage and we want to put on a real party again for this final visit.

“It will be very emotional knowing we are playing Wickham for the last time and won’t be coming back. Every festival and show we play now, we know we are saying thanks and goodbye to a different group of fans.

“But it is a two-way thing and I think some of the crowd at Wickham might struggle a bit knowing they are seeing Ferocious Dog for the last time. We have just got to soak it all up and put on as good a show as we can.”

While Ferocious Dog might be calling it a day, Bonsall is full of admiration for the way the Wickham Festival has moved with the times while still remaining true to its roots.

And he paid a special tribute to organiser Peter Chegwyn who works so tirelessly to ensure its continued success when so many other festivals are having to downsize or cancel.

He added: “I think folk festivals now need to be looking to get in a younger generation and adapting and changing and what I do like about Wickham is that they do that. They will get the Levellers on but will also get all different styles of music and appeal to a younger audience.

“There is a fantastic vibe with kids enjoying themselves and it is great to take folk music to a new generation. I grew up on the likes of the Dubliners and Foster & Allen and I took it somewhere else and made our style of folk for our generation.

“Wickham is such a diverse festival, not just the audience but the artists. You can see Ferocious Dog on one stage and someone like Curtis Stigers on another. The line-up covers everybody. I think they have got it perfect.

“The way Peter Chegwyn has run it over the years you can see they have really thought about the people who come and the demographics from age to the family atmosphere. I take my hat off to him because he has done a great job. I love talking to him, to hear his enthusiasm.”

As the final farewell draws ever closer, Bonsall admits it is hard to say goodbye but insists he has no regrets about his decision to call it quits.

He said: “Seven years ago, I made a promise to my wife Karen that I would retire. Everyone said: ‘No Ken, you will never walk away from something that has been such a massive part of your life.’ But I am doing.

“The way I look at it, you can only have Ferocious Dog if you have a wife back home willing to put up with us being constantly on the road. When we are on tour, I see more of the lads than I do my family – and they are great lads. We get on really well.

“And I feel for those who have only been with us four years and it is now coming to an end but I said seven years ago that I would retire and I am sticking to it. I owe it to her.

“I am moving from the village where I was born and raised and we are going to the countryside, even to another county… going from Nottinghamshire to Lincolnshire.

“I am downsizing to a country cottage in the middle of nowhere which has been our plan for seven years but luckily it has got some land. Maybe I could stage my own festival?

“That’s something my wife and I started planning seven years ago but the stumbling block was always Ferocious Dog. She said I would never walk away. It is hard but I am doing it.

“It is not just the gigs but even things like sorting out the merchandise the night before. It never stops. Every day there is something needing to be done for Ferocious Dog. It is constant.

“She has put up with me not being around at weekends for so long. It is so important to have someone like that behind you and Karen has been a massive force behind Ferocious Dog. She is the boss. We call her Mother Goose because she looks after us.

“All I want to do is turn up and sing. I don’t even pick the set list. Sam (Wood) does that. I don’t care what songs I sing but he knows what makes a good show and he is more organised.

“We once had two shows on the same day in Cornwall so I printed off the set-lists but got them mixed up so half the band had the set-list for one show and half had the other set-list. It was absolute chaos. Those are the kind of things I will miss.”

With just over four months until the farewell finale, the 58-year-old is finding the tour an emotional wrench.

“This year is really hard for all of us as each show we play will be the last of something and it will be tough as we get closer and closer to the final show.

“Our manager did ask whether we wanted to do eight big spectacular shows to say goodbye or go all round the UK. I said we will go to our fans, the Hell Hounds, rather than have them have to travel to see us. He said that’s what he loves about the band… we take the party to people rather than have them trek to us.

“I keep visualising that last day and what it will be like and how we can make it perfect. Everyone will want to come to that last show so we have to make it special, not just another 90-minute show.

“Ferocious Dog have never been a band who go through the motions. Anyone who has ever seen us play will know that. Whether it is Hellfest in front of 100,000 people or a small festival in Cornwall, we give it everything and that’s what we will do at Wickham.”

However, there is one small glimmer of hope for Hampshire Hell Hounds as Bonsall has not ruled out the occasional reunion gig and hinted that Wickham would be high on his list of options.

He added: “Everyone keeps asking: ‘When is the comeback tour?’ and you never say never. If after two years an agent or someone like Peter Chegwyn gets in touch and ask us to play a festival like Wickham as a one-off and the rest of the lads were up for it then what could possibly go wrong?”

* Four-day tickets are currently on sale at £220 with Under 16’s admitted half price and Under 10’s paying a nominal £10. Day tickets are also available. A weekend camping pass starts at £40 and parking is free. See www.wickhamfestival.co.uk for more details.