LEDBURY Poetry Festival is already reporting multiple sold out events, a month before its launch, and it could turn out to be a record-breaking year, as the attraction marks its 21st anniversary.

The Festival is on course to equal its ticket sales for 2016, "if not to rival the mega year of 2015".

Festival Artistic Director Chloe Garner says: “I love Ledbury and even more during the Festival. The town has a distinctly poetic eccentricity and colour. Poetry is embraced here, poetry matters, people care, and the town is engaged with this joyous celebration of words, poems and poets. This is generosity.”

Festival manager, Phillipa Slinger added: "The quality and quantity of the festival workshops beggars belief and this is reflected in how quickly they sell out. Workshops with poetry greats Tony Hoagland and A E Stallings sold out almost immediately. Places are limited but still available for workshops with Vahni Capildeo, Katharine Towers and Christopher Merrill.

"The ground breaking Fair Field series of events based on reputedly Ledbury-born William Langland’s epic poem “Piers Plowman” are also selling very fast, with one completely sold out. Other big sellers include Desert Island Poems with celebrity Hugh Dennis, and politician Paddy Ashdown. Simon Armitage, who loves the Festival and always makes time to appear here, is an audience favourite, as is irreverent poet John Hegley, who first appeared here in 1997, and is doing a special event for school children as well as his family themed event."

She said: "The Festival is known for its innovative programming, and audiences appreciate the novelty of events such as Death Salon with “undertaker poet” Thomas Lynch. This event is also close to selling out.

"And Clair Whitefield’s Edinburgh hit “Chopping Chillies” and Rob Gee’s hilarious whodunit “Forget me Not” set on an Alzheimer’s ward are proving very popular as audiences make the most of having these national events staged locally."

The Great Ledbury Celebration will be a final day celebration "with a massive party popper explosion of free events", and this is also expected to be very popular.

The Festival will run from June 30 to July 9.

Further details at, http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/community-programme/