A THREE-day international Ahmadiyya Muslim convention, which has attracted up to 30,000 followers to Tilford each July, will be held instead at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot, this year. More than 40,000 representatives from all over the world, including a large contingent from India, are expected for the Jalsa Salana, held on the last weekend of July. The news that the festival will not be taking place in Sheephatch Lane, where an Ahmadi community is based in the converted Sheephatch School, will be welcomed in Tilford. For while villagers and the Ahmadis have happily co-existed since 1984, local people feel recent festivals have become too large, resulting in traffic problems and noise. After last year's convention attracted 30,000 people - 5,000 more than expected - there were complaints to the parish council. The organisers recognised the problems and began a search for an alternative venue. The search for a permanent site goes on, press secretary Rashid Ahmad Chaudhry told The Herald. He explained that it might be possible to use the Rushmoor Arena again in 2006 and in any case, he ruled out the event's return to Sheephatch, where the food will be cooked during the convention and transported to Rushmoor. "We can't take more tha 25,000 in Tilford and the people will be more and more every year," he explained.