Well, I wake up in the mornin’
feel so sick down to my shoes,
the box-office is jumpin’,
I got the Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
I got the blues
I got those February Festival blues,
I better pay my dues
I got those Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
So, all the venues will be buzzin’
and rockin’ to tunes old and new,
I’ll be shakin’ my booty
at the New York Brass Band too.
And after all the events have finished
don’t go down the pub,
when you can kick back with a beer or two,
at the Late-Night Festival Club
I got the blues
I got those syncopation blues,
don’t step on my blue suede shoes
(is the King here?) I got those Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
Now, I’ve been to Glastonbury,
Download and Tribfest too,
but I tell ya Stage 4 Beverley,
I keep a coming back to you…
and it’s not just about the line-ups
the fantastic acts you choose,
no, it’s also because you continue to have…
spotless festival loos!
I got the blues
those sweet jelly-roll blues,
have you heard the news?
I got those Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
Everybody’s clamoring
For Beverley Community Choir
plus Dankworth, Cambo and Bilston,
this festival’s on fire!
And I’m inspired by all this eclectic stuff
I’ll be attending the Harmony Singing Class,
I’m told I can hold a pretty good note…
more like a cat clawing broken glass.
I got those blues
I got those convoluted, rhyming blues,
I hope I’ve lit your fuse?
Now you can get the Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
So, finally,
as you navigate the upcoming festival,
just you remember this sad old blues boy
who’s got those…
Amazing headliners
and talented songwriters,
spoken word
that’s what I’ve heard.
Tickets I’ll be jugglin’
to see the Saltburn Smugglin’,
Nagasaka and Killen
will get us all chillin’.
The Horizon Stage,
that’s gonna engage,
from poetry to page
it’s all the rage.
Danny Bradley guitar pluckin’
Charlotte Carrivick bluegrass truckin’,
Gary Stewarts Graceland singin’,
Sea Shanty swingin’…
Yes, I think you know by now,
I got those blues,
I got those,
Stage 4 Beverley Blues.
On that rainy festival finale
we expected the gritty Bronx,
The Big Bad Apple,
transplanted into the East Riding.
But got North Yorkshire’s finest, a mix of Basin Street
thrown in, and a red-bereted lead guitarist
leading us on, ramping it up –
bringing the noise, the moves, the chaos.
And all thoughts of East Coast, USA were soon roared aside
as we were deluged by trombones and saxes
that roamed the stage in tartan shorts,
that gave us eclectic standards and offbeat originals –
Ellington & Monk, Ross & Whitney –
gave us a blast, funked us to our seats and to our feet:
a riot of horns, percussion, and pure party energy.
Then, the climax,
and we became the show.
A brass-cheeked audience snake,
pied-pipered out of the theatre,
marching with trombones through the foyer,
conga-ing down the corridor,
bursting through the café doors
to blasts of Walking on Sunshine.
The whole band scattered amongst the tables,
commanded us onto our haunches
then down onto our creaking knees.
Finally, a lone sousaphone
lead a looping, growling, call and response,
until our parched lips puckered and breath gave out,
and then calm descended,
and ‘last orders’ were called.
Taking our syncopation into the rain,
we were left with New Orleans’ soul
burning through our veins,
our feet weary and ears gently buzzing.
Enough to serenade us home, pull us into the pillow
and a cadenced sleep. Where we bottled the
night and conjured up dreams of future
festivals, with flamboyant big brass vibes.
Chris Sewart
Festival Poet – Stage 4 Beverley Festival 2026
@chriswriting.bsky.social
I observe that one minute
they are alone at the bar,
the next, two women are
buttering them like toast,
fluttering their egos
with the force of a typhoon.
And the pair
– being malleable men –
accept this unexpected attention,
along with the shared pints
and the shotgun
of innuendo, and easy chatter.
Then, a sudden leftfield
exchange about modern poetry.
Embracing incomplete
couplets, lavishing praise
on controlled assonance
and cool half-rhyme.
Eavesdropping this jumble of
surprising banter, I notice a couple
– snug in the corner –
amused at the flirting,
vicariously relishing
a slice of this fun,
whilst beating meticulous time
with their metronome feet.
Chris Sewart
Festival Poet – Stage 4 Beverley Festival 2026
@chriswriting.bsky.social
Bring me the musicians, the venues, the stages,
the songs, the singers, the tunes for all ages,
the drummer, the cymbal, the wild thrash of snare,
the ramped-up, the amped-up, the Devil-may-care,
the sold-out, the house full, the plenty to see
the mics, the spotlights, the testing one-two-three,
the run through, the fine tune, the monitor checks
the danced out, the joyful, the where are we next?
the frothy, the moody, the ones all in black,
the hardcore, the diehards, the ones coming back,
the folkies, the rockers, the jazz through-and-through
the poems, the rhyme, the laureate - or two,
the pints pulled, the tickets, the great volunteers,
the flyers, the T-shirts, the give ‘em a cheer,
the scene set, the curtain up, the time to be,
bring me all these riches – please, bring them to me.
Chris Sewart
Festival Poet
@chriswriting.bsky.social
Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Children’s Literature.
Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed programme about language, “Word of Mouth” since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning “On Saying Goodbye”.
Opening the event will be readings from Charlotte Oliver, the East Riding Poet Laureate, and young people who attended the children’s Poetry Writing workshops.
Michael has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults, including “The Sad Book” with Quentin Blake (Walker Books) - a meditation on bereavement written after the loss of his son, Eddie – he has recently published “Where Are You, Eddie” offering an explanation to children following death of a loved one (Walker Books); “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” with Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) - made into an animated film for Channel 4 broadcast Christmas Day 2016 - and “A Great Big Cuddle” with Chris Riddell (Walker Books) . His poetry for adults includes “Don’t Mention the Children” (Smokestack) and “Selected Poems” (Penguin). Non-fiction work for adults includes “Good Ideas: How to Be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher” (John Murray), “The Disappearance of Emile Zola, Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case” (Faber), and his memoir “So They Call You Pisher!” (Verso).
He has written a book for children and teachers on writing poetry ‘What is Poetry?’ (Walker Books) and has done three booklets for teachers on writing and reading. These are available through his website . He writes up a monthly news page on the website and a blog for teachers giving ideas for writing.
Further titles for adults include “Many Different Kinds of Love”, “Getting Better” and “Good Days” (Ebury).
Michael writes a monthly open “letter” to the Secretary of State for Education in The Guardian where he critiques Government policy on schools from the standpoint of a parent. He visits schools, teachers’ conferences and university teacher training departments where he is in demand to give performances, workshops and keynote addresses. He also appears regularly at literary festivals all over the UK and Ireland.
Michael has received several honorary awards, including degrees from the Open University, the University of Exeter, the University of London Institute of Education and the University of East London/Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. For outstanding contribution to children’s literature he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award and was Children’s Laureate 2007-2009. In recognition of his contribution to the profile of French culture in the UK, he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2026, Michael won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing.
His YouTube Channel ‘Kids’ Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen’ has had over 158 million viewsCharlotte Oliver
We are delighted to present at the festival Charlotte Oliver who is the “East Riding Poet Laureate”.
Charlotte Oliver is a poet, writer and workshop facilitator. She writes for adults and children, drawing inspiration from her life in Scarborough on the beautiful Yorkshire Coast. She is happiest by, or preferably in, the sea. At Stage4Beverley she will be running workshops with young people as well as showcasing some of their poems over the festival weekend and will be supporting Michael Rosen.
Charlotte is also an Ilkley Literature Festival New Northern Poet 2023 and was Lead Artist for the Yorkshire Coast on Spoken Word Power 2024. Published widely in journals and anthologies including Candlestick Press’ Christmas Walks, she has placed in a number of competitions including the Black Cat Poetry Competition, Wirral Poetry Prize, the Patricia Eschen Poetry Prize 2022 and Wetherby Festival Poetry Competition. Big Ideas by the Sea 2024 Festival Poet, her debut pamphlet is How To Be A Dressing Gown (Dreich). Poetry commissions include work for the BBC, Scarborough Film Festival and North Yorkshire Moors National Park. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and is Poet in Residence at Scarborough’s South Cliff Gardens.
Charlotte regularly leads poetry writing workshops. She is one of The Poetry Society‘s Poets in Schools, working with both primary and secondary pupils. Charlotte also facilitates poetry workshops with a number of adult community groups including MIND and Carers Plus, as well as running family drop-in sessions.
