Mott The Hoople festival announced for Ross-on-Wye
A festival dedicated to Mott The Hoople is to take place in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, later this year, the town council has said. The announcement of Mottfest comes after one of the band's founding members Mick Ralphs died on 23 June aged 81.The band's two other founding members, Dale "Buffin" Griffin and Pete Overend Watts both grew up in Ross-on-Wye. Mottfest organiser Simon Rowberry said the festival would help "flag up" how important Herefordshire had been to the music industry.
He said: "That whole part of the country has been underrepresented in terms of its musical legacy."The band, formed in 1969, is most closely associated with the 1972 hit single All The Young Dudes, written by David Bowie.Mr Rowberry also launched a fundraising campaign for a memorial bench at Rope Walk for Griffin and Watts. The project raised £1,864 in total, with the bench to be revealed at Mottfest, which kicks off on Friday 3 October. Mr Rowberry described the response to the fundraiser as "incredible". "It took us a week to raise £1,700... It was just remarkable how quickly we managed to raise the money," he said.
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