THE volunteer litter-picking group Keynsham Wombles is gearing up to keep the 2025 Keynsham Music Festival as spick and span as ever.
The Wombles, designated litter pickers for the festival since 2014, have become a familiar sight at the event, whose Big Weekend this year takes place in the Memorial Park on July 5 and 6.
“I like to think that our music festival is one of the tidiest in the country,” says ‘Chief Womble’ Erica Davies, who founded the organisation in 2012.
“With 40 slots to cover across the whole event, it’s a big undertaking for us as a group, but our volunteers are relentlessly keen, and the vast majority of festivalgoers do their very best to help us in our mission.”
In addition to roaming the festival grounds hunting for stray litter, the Keynsham Wombles will also be sorting the collected bags behind the scenes to ensure as much of it as possible gets recycled.
They’ll also have a stall at the event, where visitors can learn about their efforts and discover how they can get involved in keeping their streets or areas tidy.
“The festival is a great opportunity for community outreach,” Erica continues. “Our wider mission is to shift people’s mindsets about litter – from being something that’s just ‘there’ to something that’s out of place and shouldn’t be.
“By showing how much more pleasant the festival – and our community – becomes without litter, we aim to encourage everyone to play their part.”
This past year, the group’s ambitious goals received a welcome boost from a small team of Wombles who have stepped up to assist Erica with organising litter picks, public awareness, education, social media, and the website – along with, perhaps most importantly, cake-baking duties.
“I was so heartened by how many people came forward,” says Erica. “I must admit, it’s great to turn up to an event and not be in charge. I can focus on picking litter and enjoy some cake afterward!”
As well as recruiting new volunteers, the Keynsham Wombles are also making an appeal to past volunteers who have been allocated litter-picking equipment but whose circumstances no longer allow them to use it as often as they would like.
Anyone with Wombles-issued litter-picking equipment gathering dust in their shed or garage is encouraged to get in touch via the contact form on keynshamwombles.org to arrange collection or drop it off at the stall during the music festival.
Pictured, volunteers from the Keynsham Wombles proudly display a haul of collected litter
Keynsham Wombles are pick of the festival!
