24 May 22
Award-winning comedian delights crowds as festival makes long-awaited return
- Popular TV regular and comedy show headliner Matt Richardson, has led a comedy performance as part of the Rickmansworth Festival
- Hosted by the UK’s largest water-only supplier Affinity Water, Matt used comedy to share its crucial water saving messages
- Super-sized bath joined the attractions to help boost Affinity Water’s milestone water saving campaign
Star of stage and national TV, Matt Richardson, has headlined an exclusive comedy show as part of the return of the Rickmansworth Festival.
Affinity Water, the UK’s largest water-only supplier, supported the festival as a Platinum Sponsor, hosting a fun-packed comedy tent with host of BBC Two's ‘Lightning’ Zoe Lyons compèring and Matt Richardson taking the headline slot on Saturday.
The much-loved festival returned to a site along the Grand Union Canal on the 21st and 22nd May after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19.
Matt was revealed as the surprise headline act alongside a host of regional and national acts that featured inside Affinity Water’s comedy tent, with thousands of visitors enjoying the festival programme throughout the weekend.
Affinity Water also brought along the infamous ‘Tubitha’, a super-sized bath tub which is 125 times the size of a normal bath, to promote its water saving campaign.
Its milestone water-saving movement: ‘SOS: Save Our Streams,’ has been coined the UK’s biggest ever water-saving initiative with over 200,000 sign-ups to date. One billion litres of water are proven to have been saved last summer thanks to Affinity Water’s pioneering approach, which empowers people to help protect England’s precious chalk streams by wasting less water in their homes.
Comedy headliner Matt Richardson placed water saving messages at the heart of his set, and thanks to Tubitha and the Affinity Water team, many festival-goers signed up to the campaign at SaveOurStreams.co.uk where they can now gain access to their exact household water usage stats, a free water-saving kit and expert advice. Some lucky festival-goers also got their hands on free VIP comedy show tickets as part of an exclusive giveaway for those signing up to the SOS: Save our Streams Campaign ahead of the event.
Matt Richardson, who alongside his stand-up performances has hosted shows such as the Xtra Factor and starred in Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Celebrity Juice, said: “It was a real pleasure to headline the Affinity Water comedy tent at the Rickmansworth Festival. I know that the event has been sorely missed during the pandemic, and it was clear that the crowds were so pleased to be back.
“Comedy has such a great power to join people together, especially when we’re using it to talk about serious messages. We had a great time laughing about water use, but we were also able to share the importance of campaigns such as SOS: Save Our Streams, which help us all make a difference.
“I hope that my show was good fun for everyone that came along, whilst also reminding us how we can each play a part to protect our environment.”
Stuart Ledger, Interim CEO of Affinity Water said:
“We’ve all had a fantastic time at the Rickmansworth Festival. It was wonderful to be able to meet so many new people and talk to them about our hugely successful water saving campaign.
“Matt delighted the audience with his hilarious set, whilst sharing our important messages about the crucial need for water saving at home.
“Thousands of people came along to meet Tubitha for a super-sized bath selfie, and with so many more sign ups to our SOS: Save our Streams Campaign as a result, we’re confident we’ll see even less water used in the coming months as people take simple steps to reduce their water use.”
Members of the public are urged to continue taking action and visit SaveOurStreams.co.uk where after answering a few questions about how they use water, can gain access to their exact household water usage stats, a free water-saving kit and expert advice.