Poetry festival is a big success (From Ledbury Reporter)

Poetry festival is a big success

12:30pm Friday 10th July 2009

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THIS year’s Ledbury Poetry Festival has been a big success, according to organisers, with ticket sales higher than previous years and events selling out within days of tickets going on sale.

At the beginning of the week ticket sales were 33 per cent higher than previous years and big names including Benjamin Zephaniah, Roger McGough, Joan Bakewell and Ruth Padel were complete sell-outs.

“We’ve sold a lot more tickets in advance this year and the big-name events have sold really well,” said Festival director Chloe Garner.

The festival is now in its 13th year and has grown hugely since it was first held in 1997 with a small grant of just £1,000 from the Arts Council.

It is now regarded as the best poetry festival in Britain and attracts the biggest names in poetry to the town.

This year the Arts Council provided £50,000 and spokesman Adrian Johnson said the council had been proud to support and watch the festival grow and develop.

“It really is a fantastic event, vital and exciting, not just for the poets and people it attracts but for the new work it commissions and the work it does in schools,” he explained.

“It’s a festival that brings poetry and the community together in a magical and valuable way.”

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