Bardic Chair Of Dorchester Caer Dur

Contact: heritage@caer-dur.co.uk

The Bardic Seat of Dorchester

Will be held on Saturday 28th March 2009 at the Corn Exchange Dorchester with the support of the Town Council and local businesses we intend this competition to become an annual event.

The idea of Chaired Bards is to promote the Bardic Tradition through talks and performances and set the theme for the competition the following year. The first of the revived bardic chairs was that of Caer Badon (Bath) which was revived in 1998. This was followed by others in Bristol, Glastonbury and Winchester. Writer Kevan Manwaring a.k.a. Tallyessin held the first of the revived bardic chairs.

Dorchester is considered to be an ideal place for such a cultural revival, as not only was it an important cultural and religious centre in pre-Roman and Roman times, with several henge monuments and temples, but it also has an important literary heritage in the poet William Barnes, the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, and the Powys Brothers, who all resided there and found the town and its environs such an inspiration.

The competition, which was announced in August, will be open to anyone regardless of religious or other affiliation and will welcome storytellers, poets, singers, actors, writers and academics.

The Competition is free to enter and open to all but does require registration of interest by emailing us at the email at the bottom of this page. Please address emails to Jerry or Peter. Entrants will be given a theme upon registration.

We are delighted to announce that Ash the 11th Bard of Bath will be one of the judges for the competition and will also be performing at the festival.

Entry: Free

Time: 10:00am