Latest news with #IanMatthews
Powys County Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Kasabian drummer launches BogFest festival in Llanwrtyd
KASABIAN drummer Ian Matthews will be hosting a free music festival running alongside one of Powys' weirdest events later this summer. BogFest is officially launching this August bank holiday weekend in Llanwrtyd Wells, running in conjunction with the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. The music festival is being organised by Chapel, a project set up by local businessman Irfon Watkins and Kasabian drummer Mathews, who is a long-time friend. Chapel is also the main sponsor of the World Bog Snorkelling Championships this year, which is taking place on Sunday, August 24. The music festival takes place over the weekend of August 23-24. 'Come to my festival,' Matthews implores. 'Yes, BogFest is kicking off in August in deepest Wales. It's fun, it's free and it's to celebrate this eccentric sport of bog snorkelling. 'Hell, why not get involved with this unique and growing sport, don the mask and dive in. What more would you want? We have it all, Blues, beers and muddy bogs.' 'Hosted by Chapel in partnership with the World Bog Snorkelling Championships, this free festival brings live music to the heart of the town, with three stages, including one right at the bog site,' said a post on the Chapel Facebook page. 'Expect free live music over the two days, a chance to cheer on the legendary bog snorkellers, Ian Matthews will be hosting the weekend and handing out prizes.' Local tech entrepreneur Watkins and Matthews have taken on the restoration of the historic Welsh Methodist chapel in Llanwrtyd in recent years, aiming to create a venue where established and upcoming artists alike can perform live to both local audiences and a worldwide audience through new technologies. And it is through this project that BogFest was born. 'BogFest was created to bring live music to the heart of Wales,' said organisers. 'It will be an annual event that will grow with community at the centre while being in partnership with the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. 'Ian Matthews is also hosting the festival all weekend and handing out prizes at the bog snorkelling.' The World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Llanwrtyd is one of the UK's quirkiest sporting events. Armed with snorkels and flippers, competitors race through a muddy trench cut into a peat bog – no swimming strokes allowed. 'It's wet, wild and wonderfully weird, a must-see highlight in the smallest town in Britain,' added organisers. The festival will be held across three stages: the Bog Stage, plus the Stonecroft and Neuadd Arms pubs. Spaces are limited in the venues, arrive early to grab a spot and keep an eye out for more information.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Yahoo
Bizarre trend emerges in Aussie city as $400 worth of unopened food found in bush
Littering and illegal dumping continue to run rampant in Townsville, but in a bizarre turn of events, locals are now finding hundreds of unopened packets of chips and drink cans strewn across the bush. Adding to the wide range of items that are regularly dumped along north Queensland's Bohle River, such as furniture, tyres, shopping trolleys, and remnants of illegal copper burning, the unopened goods were found by two volunteers who often patrol the littering hotspots along Dalrymple Road and Hervey Range Road. Dave Dudley and Ian Matthews from Townsville Tidy Up, an organisation created to clean up the city, explained there have been four separate incidents of chip and can littering in the last four weeks. "There were all these cans there and I thought, wait a minute, most of the packets of chips are half full and they're all in date," Ian told Yahoo News, recalling his most recent discovery over the weekend. "It's the third time that I've found this kind of thing. My mate Dave also found the same sort of thing, it's probably happened four times in four weeks... It's odd." The littering has occurred across two sites, and the goods have been largely unopened. The few chip packets that have been opened have been discarded on the ground. "It's just been a mess of unopened cans and bottles and drink containers, and just for some odd reason some packets of chips emptied all over the ground," Dave explained to Yahoo News. "I reckon it's been more than $400 worth of stuff." 👷♂️ Tradies forced to make $100,000 clean-up after selfish act at national park 🚘 Hundreds of tyres mysteriously stacked up in family's driveway 🚨 Cops make 'extremely dangerous' find on ute tyres The pair told Yahoo News they had no idea who was behind the behaviour and why it was happening, but are both eager to get answers. Yahoo News reached out to Townsville Council after Dave said he has reported each incident to the council via the SnapSendSolve app. A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) told Yahoo News it has received no reports of the littering incidents but warned anyone caught in the act will be fined $322. There were suggestions online that goods were stolen from a local supermarket or club, however, these have been purely speculative and a theory Ian has discredited. "I think a shop would have reported it after four weeks in a row," he said. Dave also weighed into the oddness of the situation, questioning why the goods were not being enjoyed at a time when grocery prices are rising, and Aussie households are struggling to make ends meet. "It's strange. I don't know why, if you have access to stock, why you wouldn't give it away or eat them yourself," Dave said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
