‘Britain’s most ambitious poetry festival’ kicks off this weekend in Morecambe

Morecambe Poetry Festival 2023 will build on the success of last year's inaugural event with workshops, open mics, family friendly shows, star headliners and word walks, all held at the Winter Gardens and Johnny’s Warehouse Bar.

There’s a stellar line up of poets on top of their game including Henry Normal and Brian Bilston who open their UK tour at the festival, Roger McGough, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, John Hegley and Attila the Stockbroker.

"This is a prestigious poetry showcase that could easily grace any of the UK’s major cities,” said writer, poet, and TV and film producer Henry Normal.

“It is instead situated in a small North West coastal resort – off season. This weekend, Morecambe Winter Gardens will be the centre of attention when it will play host to the second incarnation of Britain’s most ambitious poetry festival.

“It’s the sheer number of major poets that impresses… but there is so much more to the Morecambe Poetry Festival than the big names, not least the community events, the open mic events and the involvement of so many people.”

The 2023 Poetry Festival opens on Friday evening with Rob Barrett, the comic poet from north Cornwall, reading his poem about the Eden Project and Morecambe.

The opening night will also see Pete The Temp deliver his show on the entire history of spoken word from Homer to Hip Hop, as the perfect scene setter for the festival weekend, before Henry Normal and Brian Bilston appear together for the first time to deliver ‘the greatest poetry show in the history of the world or their names aren’t Brian Bilston and Henry Normal. An evening of poems to be enjoyed not endured.’

As well as the established poets, a whole host of first time writers are being encouraged to produce work and perform, with several open mics taking place open to all.

A Word Walk will take place on Saturday along Morecambe’s Flock of Words – the 300 metre typographic pavement which connects the railway station with the seafront.

There are also free tickets on offer for children under 14 (and their grown ups) to the Dommy B Make Some Noise show on Saturday at 12pm, followed by the much-loved John Hegley, known for his mix of anecdotes, jokes, idiosyncratic observations, confessions and surreal narratives, often illustrated with his own drawings.

Festival founder Matt Panesh said: "I'm over the moon the festival has expanded and grown from last year, with the support of the Morecambe community and our funding supporters that has enabled us to realise some of our ambitions to really put Morecambe on the cultural map.

"What is absolutely fantastic is that we have kept the heart and soul of the festival, with more than 34 hours of performance poetry on offer.”

Last year’s event succeeded in attracting the attention of the T.S. Eliot Foundation – which came in with funding for five years. This year, support has grown with Eden Project Communities, Wordsworth Grasmere and Arts Council England coming on board as well as ongoing support from Morecambe Town Council and Lancashire County Council.

New for this year will also be a showcase of poetry nights from across the UK to give a snapshot of the UK scene. Poets from Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham, Midlands, Wales, Germany and Italy are giving a flavour of their poetry and taking part in a symposium to explore ideas of how to develop the poetry scene.

Weekend passes giving access to all the shows are selling quickly with double the number of advance passes sold last year already purchased. Weekend passes are £65 plus booking fees.

A poetry anthology book has also been published in conjunction with Eden Project Communities allowing community poets and top tier talent to "rub shoulders with one another" on page and stage. Available to buy at the festival, profits from its sale will go into next year’s event.

Festival in numbers

Three days, two stages, 62 poets

Three open mics

34 hours of spoken word performance

Seven poetry scene takeovers

Tickets at https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Lancaster/The-Morecambe-Winter-Gardens/Morecambe-Poetry-Festival/36181977/

Keep up to date on Morecambe Poetry Festival Facebook.