Organiser of Fieldbounce talks about the Oswestry festival

Thousands upon thousands of people eagerly refresh websites upon release dates hoping to be lucky enough to bag some tickets to see their heroes.

And one Shropshire man, 22-year-old Shawn Melusi, hopes to harness that wave of popularity and ride it right through Oswestry next summer.

"I think any business or event that brings different social groups together is always a positive because it enables learning, and using music or performances is something a lot of people can relate to," he says.

And he is right. How many times do you attend a gig and see a real cross-section of society stood at your shoulder who may not even think to say hello to you in everyday circumstances?

Over the border in Staffordshire, at Weston Park, V Festival has long been punching above its weight on the summer music scene and attracted some of the biggest names to the area. Okay, it has struggled in the past 18 months and there has been talk of rehoming it, but these are rumours strongly refuted by the local council.

Arguably its biggest challenge has been variety, the fact music fans are constantly looking for something fresh and exciting to spend their pounds on and get away from the daily drag. They have more festivals than ever to choose from.

And that is where Shawn and his team at the for the moment one-day Fieldbounce Music Festival come in.

They officially launched last month, pencilling in a date for May 5 next year, and have already announced persistent chart achievers Scouting For Girls and Dappy to perform as headliners.

It won't be Dappy's first appearance in the town either. The former N-Dubz frontman previously performed at the now defunct OsFest in 2012 on the same bill as Razorlight and Hard-Fi. The festival stopped after 2014 and the gap in the market has been there ever since.

Shawn is in the process of announcing another eye-catching performer, and he has ambitions of getting 10,000 people through the gates at Park Hall in May next year - usually the home of Welsh Premier League football champions The New Saints.

"I had saved some capital to be able to start up and took a calculated risk to announce some of our acts," he said of his impressive early signings. "The ticket sales will then fund the rest of the event as we have had a great response."

Shawn has hopes of making it an annual event. But just how easy is it to get a project of this size off the ground? He said the preparations began while on a previous venture.

"While I was travelling I started contacting agents," he said. "There was a gap for such an event in the area with a previous local festival doing well. Then I obtained a team and distributed roles amongst them to focus on certain areas depending where their strengths lie."

And the festival's marketing manager, Jack Wright, has been thrilled at the reception the festival has had from locals. They have been helpful throughout, allowing the team to realise their dream of bringing a live music event back to Oswestry.

"We've had a lot of interest from local businesses, acts and people who all want to be involved with the festival," said Jack. "It's been great to use as many local businesses possible to help with different aspects.

"We sold out the early bird VIP tickets within three weeks, which was fantastic, and the number of tickets being sold continues to rise, with people all across the country buying tickets.

"We've had a very positive response from the local community, especially within Oswestry. The town has needed something like Fieldbounce for a long time, and the community has supported it and so we hope that we can make it an annual event and a permanent fixture in the calendar."

And moving forward, if Fieldbounce were to explode and money was to be no object for Shawn, what would his dream line-up in Oswestry be?

"Adele, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Chris Brown, Rihanna and One Direction," he says quickly, ensuring local interest would be represented with Wolverhampton's Liam Payne a member of the on-hiatus boy band.

But money is not the sole driving force behind Shawn's ambition. The entrepreneur is a keen volunteer who helps out with a range of charity work. He enjoys it so much that his personal ambition is to be in a position to retire by the age of 30 so he can focus solely on his good work.

In particular, he has a vision of setting up a centre for homeless people moving forward - a topic very much in the public eye at the moment given the Tories' pledges on eradicating homelessness moving forward in the recent Autumn Budget.

"I enjoy helping other people and raising awareness of certain causes," Shawn added. "I want to leave a legacy and there is no better way than helping other people. I’m in the planning stages of opening up my own charity to help local people. I have done events seasonally as well as running marathons."

Backing Fieldbounce and helping it grow could help the people of Shropshire and the surrounding areas of North Wales, The Black Country, Staffordshire and Worcestershire in more ways than one. So pick up those shades and that straw hat and get ready to party. The thrill of the live music scene is coming back to Oswestry in a big way.

For more information on the burgeoning venture, visit fieldbounce.co.uk