Welcome to Winchester Poetry Festival
Winchester Poetry Day 2026 - Sat 10th October
Winchester Poetry Festival events 2026
Winchester Poetry Festival is a biennial festival, with our next full festival taking place in 2027 - subject to funding.
Winchester Poetry Day is on Sat 10th Oct at The ARC, Winchester
We also host and collaborate on poetry events throughout the year, the details and ticket links for which are below.
We ensure that as many activities as possible are free to attend, to ensure everyone feels able to participate. Donations are welcomed (link at bottom of page)
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Everyday Histories wordshop with the Hampshire Poet
for Winchester Heritage Open Days
The Pilgrims' Hall, SO23 9LT
Saturday 19 September | 10:30am-12pm
Damian Kelly-Basher, invites you to turn ordinary stories into magical poems in the evocative setting of Pilgrims’ Hall.
Join Damian Kelly-Basher - Hampshire Poet 2024-27 - for a creative writing wordshop followed by a sharing session, drawing on the Heritage Open Days theme of ‘Everyday Histories’.
At this interactive event Damian asks us to imagine the lives of the ordinary people who have worked at and visited this spectacular medieval building through the ages. Do their stories have connections to our own daily lives?
This is a ‘wordshop’. It’s open, friendly and you don’t need any writing experience in order to participate. Damian will guide you through writing exercises to create a poem of your own, which you can share with the group at the end, if you wish.
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance
National Poetry Day: A Haiku Walk with Mark Rutter
Starts at Handlebar Cafe, SO23 9PA
Thursday 1st October | 4-5:30pm
Join Mark Rutter and roam St Catherine’s Hill and the water meadows to create short poems inspired by the landscape and National Poetry Day 2026 theme: wonder.
This event is in partnership with University of Winchester.
Why a ‘haiku walk’? The Japanese haiku focusses on a single moment, and is traditionally based upon close observation. Because of this, writing haiku can be a way to put aside the cares and concerns which tend to dominate our lives, and focus attention on the details of the natural world. Haiku poets like Basho and Issa were famous walkers, and wrote on the move – and this is precisely what we will be doing.
Mark says:
We will meet at 4.00pm at Handlebar Cafe, where I will hand out some translations of traditional and modern Japanese haiku inspired by nature, along with some contemporary English-language examples.
There will be a writing exercise based on these, then we will split up and explore the hill and environs, on the look-out for inspiration.
We will agree on a place to meet and exchange what we have written, in time for the event to end at 5.30.
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance
Winchester Poetry Day 2026
The ARC, SO23 8SB
Saturday 10 October | 10am-5pm
A day of poetry activities celebrating ‘performance and participation’ where everyone is welcome.
Featuring:
📝A poetry workshop with Rachel Long
🏆The Hampshire Young Poets' celebration event 2026
🙌🏾Meet our Artistic Director: Erica Hesketh
🎤Poetry Open Mic
🌟The live announcement of the Winchester Poetry Prize 2026 winners with Julia Copus
Tickets on sale now.
Please note, tickets for Winchester Poetry Festival events are bookable directly from this page. Please do not purchase tickets from resale websites/marketplaces. Tickets for collaborative events may be hosted by other platforms. You can find our refund policy here.
If you have queries regarding tickets, or are concerned your ticket is not valid please email hello@winchesterpoetryfestival.org