A FIELD behind the Brontë Parsonage Museum is the setting for Haworth's first-ever poetry festival.

Poetry at the Parsonage will bring dozens more than 100 poets and performers from across Yorkshire to Haworth on Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3.

The Word Club of Leeds has teamed up with the Brontë Society to organise a packed programme of readings and workshops.

The festival has been organised on behalf of the Brontë Parsonage Museum by Matthew Withey.

He said: “Poetry at the Parsonage will be the biggest gathering of poets anywhere in Britain this year.

“It is a free-to-enter festival with sets by more than 100 performers, all coming together on the edge of the moors that inspired some of the finest poetry in the English language.

“The weekend will be fabulous feast of words and we invite people to bring their families and share it with us.”

Helen Mort, one of the headliners, said events like the festival created a sense of community and encouraged poets to support one another.

“Yorkshire has a thriving poetry scene and it’s good to bring everyone together.”

Charlotte’s Stage, at the Old School Room next to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, will see performances by Mark Connors, Helen Mort and Alan Buckley on the Saturday, and Gaia Holmes, Clare Shaw, James Nash and Kate Fox on the Sunday.

The Saturday line-up for Emily’s Stage at nearby West Lane Baptist Centre includes Ilkley Young Writers and Lorna Faye Dunsire, who appeared as part of Charlotte’s bicentenary celebrations in Haworth in April.

Eddie Lawler, also known as the Bard of Saltaire, will headline Emily’s Stage on the Sunday. The event will be compered by Yorkshire favourites Craig Bradley, Geneviève L Walsh, Winston Plowes and Mark Connors of Word Club.

Performances will begin at noon each day. Visit bronte.org.uk/whats-on for further information and tickets.