Pop-Up Poetry in the Park, the creative writing and performance Pop-Up that welcomes aspiring, especially first-timer, have-a-goers and established, creative wordsmiths and poets across Wiltshire and beyond, regardless of age or ability.
Offering an accessible, safe, and supportive live performance stage that reaches the broadest possible audience, where you can share your work or celebrate that of others, outside in one of our many green and glorious parks, gardens or even next door's finely manicured lawn.
Time spent in the Park is never wasted.
Bertrand Russell
Pop Up Poetry in the Park is a free-to-attend outdoor event created for the public good. During the spring and summer months, it has the flexibility to make the most of the many wonderful outdoor spaces across Swindon. When the chilly, wet weather arrives, it relocates inside to the Swindon 105.5 radio studio.
Since 2023, the program, funded by Strawberry Green Productions, has benefited from the support of South Swindon Parish Council, utilising the Old Town Garden Bandstand; Stratton St Margaret Parish Council; Swindon 105.5 Radio; and the Swindon Festival of Literature.
Capturing performances for a rainy day
Pop Up Poetry in the Park performances are filmed for social media and various poetry groups and recorded for Swindon 105.5 Radio, our local media partner. Opening the door to a broader audience.
Pop Up Poetry in the Park is flexible, scalable, easy to replicate, and the ideal low-key cultural vehicle to champion localisation and diversification. Our ambition is to offer the poetic program to all parish councils during the warmer months, when outdoor performances are most conducive to them.
Offering anyone with a space, green or not, the opportunity to celebrate and showcase local culture, identity, traditions and their way of life. All invisible ingredients that form the glue that differs in so many ways, yet bind us all together.
Pop Up Poetry in the Park supports the development of grassroots voices, those that are so often unheard and unseen, encouraging all involved to use their voice, share their words, and in doing so, enrich the lives of us all. Pop Up Poetry in the Park offers local governments, councils, and major brands a route to remain culturally relevant in diverse markets.
Pop-Up Poetry in the Park is and needs to continue to be a free-to-attend and participate event. Helping to remove the financial barrier of nonattendance.
Pop-Up Poetry in the Park can grow beyond Swindon and incorporate a music component. (Start -middle - finish) which again will help broaden its appeal.
For those who can't make it to the Pop Up or want to relive the experience, we capture the moment on film, recording each performance for social media and radio. Our current go-to social media platforms for making some noise and showcasing the poets' great work are Facebook and Instagram.
Poetry in the Park was a fantastic visionary endeavour piloted by Andrew Brewerton, founder of Strawberry Green Productions. By choosing this iconic park in Swindon, the poetry events gave a community of local writers the chance to share their visions and talent with so many who hold the park in such affection. Bringing local voices to the fore, whilst encouraging others to take up the pen and then contribute with voice, brought so many moving moments, and I would also say, touched the heart of a community. These events were truly heartwarming. I am quite sure that everyone who spent time listening to the poets would agree. Bravo, Strawberry Green, for a project beautifully delivered.
Dr. Peter Jeffs
Learning, appetite and enthusiasm
Much like any other bootstrapped start-up, we started small, in August, when one would hope it would be warm and sunny. But we've all experienced an English Summer - and true to form, we launched on a wet Wednesday in a thunderstorm.
However, in case you didn't know, poets are a hardy, robust bunch, and more than twenty joined us to share their work in the rain for the first PopUp Poetry in the Park.
We're not standing still.
To determine how best to raise awareness, each Pop-Up is reviewed and tweaked to ensure the program gains wider traction, connects with new poets, and potentially reaches a broader audience.
Contacting independent and larger chain bookshop owners, as well as other potential interested parties whose products and services align with the program, to secure their patronage and sponsorship will aid growth and increased accessibility of future events.
Adding to the mix and broadening the appeal
Poetry is much like songwriting, and there are plans to introduce a musical element to the program. Initially, topping and tailing the session with an acoustic music set.
The music, along with the stage's overall setup, will act as a magnet drawing people's attention and interest. At every opportunity, our objective is to engage with the general public and let them know what to expect if they hang around.
A Producer walks into the pub for a pint with a Poet
Like most things, it started with a conversation and a determination to offer poets a platform to share their work with an audience. Since the wet Wednesday of 2023, poets young, old, and of all abilities have shared hundreds of their poems.
Pop Up Poetry in the Park has legs; with support, it can scale and, in the winter months, move inside to keep warm and continue performing. All involved want to believe and have faith that there is a real hunger and determination to join the convoluted, complex, disconnected creative communities and limited resources together, enabling fledgling cultural programs such as Pop Up Poetry in the Park, the opportunity to build the necessary foundations to take poetry out and into our wonderful diverse population and if we do we'll all be better for it.
