People across Chorley town centre were celebrating the written, spoken and sung word this weekend at literary festival ‘What’s Your Story, Chorley?, with over 30 authors, poets, actors, artists and musicians taking part.
With hundreds of visitors attending workshops and sessions for all ages throughout the day, the town was alive with the sounds of stories, marking another successful year for the long running literary festival organised by Chorley Council and local volunteers.
New for 2025 were two sold out theatre performances of much-loved children’s classic, ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, and an engaging comic art workshop with artist Kev Sutherland. Children from primary schools across the borough also took part in a new ‘create your own book cover’ activity, taking inspiration from their favourite stories to design their own front covers, 100 of which have been put up for display in Chorley Town Centre until 22 April.
All the shortlisted poems for the adult poetry competition were performed for an audience at Shepherd’s Ale House & Victoria Rooms before Ethan Bird was announced as the winner with his poem, ‘Stupefied Awe’.
Caroline Wolfenden, Director of Change and Delivery at Chorley Council said of the event:
‘It’s wonderful to see so many people coming along to ‘What’s Your Story, Chorley?’ whether they were listening to, creating or sharing stories or demonstrating their artistic skills in the creative workshops and activities.
“Promoting healthy, safe and engaged communities across the borough is a core theme of our corporate strategy and running events like these helps to achieve this by supporting literacy, providing access to the arts and bringing communities together to learn and connect.
“We hope everyone who came along to the event went away feeling inspired to write a poem or a song, pick up a book or tell their own stories next year’s event!’
Next year’s ‘What’s Your Story, Chorley?’ will take place on Saturday 28 March 2026, for more information about what’s on in Chorley visit www.checkoutchorley.co.uk
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