Hunting for a new Northampton bard

A one day festival of spoken word and music is to be held at a new venue on Sunday which will see a new Bard of Northampton crowned.

The Bardic Picnic will take place this year at the newly refurbished Black Prince due to the renovation work at Delapre Abbey which is where the event has taken place. The event has been running for the past eight years and will see a wide range of activities for the entire family. It will also promote and celebrate the spoken word.

The event includes a family/children’s area, four areas of performance including, spoken word, live music both acoustic and amplified, storytelling and comedy, food, face-painting and hair braiding, stalls and a beer festival.

A spokesman for the organisers said: “We are a popular, local, cultural event that is unique not only to Northampton but in the country, as despite there being Bardic Contests in other towns, ours is the only one with a full days entertainment for all the family, even holding a young and junior Bard contest.”

The event runs from noon to midnight on Sunday.