Pre-festival fundraiser gig: Simon Armitage returns to Marsden on National Poetry Day!
13 July 2022
Tickets are now live for a special pre-festival event with the British Poet Laureate to raise funds for St Bartholomew’s and Marsden Jazz Festival.
We are delighted to announce that this year we’re hosting a pre-festival fundraiser gig in Marsden’s beautiful St Barts - a live performance from the local legend and British Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, on Thursday 6th October at 8pm (the day before our full festival kicks off!). Get your tickets here!
On National Poetry Day, Armitage returns to the village he grew up in to read from his award winning collections, share new work, and perform with Land Yacht Regatta.
LYR (Land Yacht Regatta) comprises author and current British Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage CBE, musician Richard Walters and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Pearson. LYR sets Armitage’s live spoken evocative vocals to genre splicing music and soundscapes from Walters and Pearson.
Broadcaster, novelist, playwright, translator, lyricist and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has described Marsden as “the epicentre” of his writing, and the lives and landscapes of West Yorkshire continue to echo through his work.
Formed in 2018 as a one-off project, LYR are now a firmly established part of the contemporary music scene, with regular radio airplay, a critically acclaimed debut album and over a million streams to their name. Having appeared at several festivals across the summer, they kick off their autumn tour by bringing their uniquely hypnotic songs to Marsden Jazz Festival.
★★★★ ‘Compelling, dramatic’, The Telegraph
‘Impassioned vocals and soaring strings’, The Guardian
Don’t forget folks, our full festival lineup and tickets are released on 3rd August at 10am! We’re bursting with excitement to tell you more but for now, we encourage you to nab a ticket for Simon Armitage and LYR as we expect this to sell fast!
We’re honoured to be sharing this fundraiser with the beautiful St Barts – the venue for ALL of our festival activity this year! Described as the ‘Cathedral of the Colne Valley’, it feels like a fitting backdrop for our Poet Laureate’s return to the village.
© 2022
