A poetry festival that includes headline names but also welcomes grassroots poets with open arms returns to the north-west later this month. Pam Ayres is topping the bill at Morecambe poetry festival, from 19-22 September, along with Henry Normal, Lemn Sissay, Raymond Antrobus, bestselling poet Donna Ashworth, Mike Harding, and impressionist Alistair McGowan.

The three-day event organised by Matt Panesh will also see recordings of popular BBC Radio programmes Loose Ends and The Verb.

There’s also a pre-festival meet-up on Thursday 19 September featuring Quiet Compere Sarah L Dixon, Barry Fentiman-Hall, Arthur Chappell, and Barry Hallman, with Attila the Stockbroker and Toria Garbutt on Friday. Saturday appearances will include Tony Walsh and Des Mannay, while Sunday will feature Helen Ivory, Martin Figura, Chanje Kunda, Kate Fox, and Vera Chok. In a tribute to Jackie Hagan,  who died earlier this year but made a defiant appearance onstage at Morecambe in September 2023, there will also be sets from ‘Jackie Hagan’s Manchester Mates’ –  Gerry Potter, Thick Richard, Dave Viney and Miles Hadfield.

All this, and open mics and workshops through the festival, too!

Matt Panesh told Lancashire Life last month: “The poetry festival mixes grassroots poets with legends, so there is always a wide variety of poets to see. We have a second stage, like at a music festival, and we want to give poets of all backgrounds and levels of experience a chance to perform.”

He added: “There used to be 30 theatres in Morecambe, but the arts have suffered here. Hopefully, through these festivals, we can help restore Morecambe’s reputation as a place for performance and entertainment.”

Headline acts at the festival will be on stage at the Winter Gardens, with the second stage upstairs at the King’s Arms. Shows and workshops aimed at a younger audience will run until 3pm on both weekend days.

Loose Ends, which is co-hosted by Wigan-born Stuart Maconie, will be recorded on Friday 20 September 6pm to 7pm and will be aired the next day. Ian McMillan hosts The Verb, which will record its show on Saturday 21 September from 5.45pm to 7pm. Both events will be free to attend, with holders of festival weekend passes given first option before tickets are made available to the general public. Ticket details