Coachella forces small Welsh festival to change name
A pop star's small festival in South Wales has been forced to change its name following a complaint from the organisers of California's Coachella.
Ian 'H' Watkins, a singer from the group Steps, had wanted to call the event in Cowbridge, in the Vale of Glamorgan, 'Cowchella'.
But the 49-year-old was forced to alter his plans after those behind Coachella, the 250,000-capacity music festival, got in touch.
The renamed 'Moo-La-La Festival' will feature a string of tribute acts and is to be hosted by Watkins, alongside Claire Sweeney, the television personality and actress, and Owain Wyn Evans, the Radio 2 presenter.
The change was announced as new social media accounts were set up for the festival revealing its 'fab new name', along with a statement that tickets for the event in August would remain valid.
Acts set to appear at the festival include Harry Styled UK, Got To Be Taylor Swift, Got To Be Steps, Got To Be Mamma Mia and Wickedly Hariana.
Watkins said: 'I'm taking it as a massive compliment that they feel like that our little festival is a little bit of a threat to their ginormous juggernaut of a machine.
'It's a little bit mind-blowing. What we're doing is very, very different to what they do. We don't have Beyonce performing.
'We have a Steps tribute act and also, they don't have myself, Claire Sweeney and Owain Wyn Evans, hosting, which in my book, is much better than Beyonce.'
The Welshman added: 'We've spent a lot of money on marketing and flyers and posters and banners that are all visible around the town. So yes, those will have to go in the bin – but let's just do that rather than have any more people knocking on our door.'
Watkins said the festival, at Bear Field on Aug 2, will otherwise remain the same with 'great food, great drink'.
He said: 'Our town is so beautiful, but there's so much untapped potential there, which is why we keep creating events such as Pride.
'We do the panto in town, so many amazing things. I decorate the town hall for Armistice [Day]. I do a lot in the town just to bring a lot of joy, and it's a town that should be celebrated, and that's what Moo-La-La, as it's now called, will be.'
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