SOUTHAMPTON will host its first ever festival of words later this year, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Ghost stories will be shared, poetry will be recited and there will be open-air productions of Shakespeare in the city.

Authors, poets and scriptwriters and anyone interested in expressing art through literature will be at the SO: To Speak Festival in October.

Comedian Jason Manford and renowned Hampshire authors Philip Hoare, Ali Sparkes, MJ Arledge and Claire Fuller are just part of the line-up of events and speakers which has been revealed so far.

Spoken word performances and music at the Dancing Man, ghost stories and tales of Southampton, poetry at the Solent Sky Museum, an open-air Shakespeare production, and Words in the City – where pop-up poets will perform through the city centre are also promised.

To add to this, local arts organisation, element arts, will be producing Transported, a series of art installations and performances within an innovative use of shipping containers in Guildhall Square, working in collaboration with Williams Shipping.

The Daily Echo-supported festival will also launch two new specially-commissioned art works.

Organisers hope to build on the momentum created by other cultural festivals in Southampton so far this year as well as offering Sotonians the chance to experience a dynamic range of creative acts.

A teaser video for the festival, that can be viewed below, has been released bringing together Southampton figures and residents.

Charlie Hislop, of Southampton Festivals and one of the founders of SO: To Speak, said: “We have so much creative talent in the city – of published and award-winning writers, performance artists and poets, and it’s fantastic that we are able to provide a showcase for it through the festival.

“The variety of performances on offer, from flash fiction to music, means that this festival really is unique and the first of its kind to arrive in Southampton.

“We are hugely excited that the Arts Council has decided to support us alongside the Arthouse Café, Writing Buddies, element arts and the city’s Libraries.

“I hope that SO: To Speak will help show what a vibrant and creative city Southampton really is.”

Tickets are available from the Mayflower Theatre box office on 023 8071 1811.

There are also still plenty of opportunities to sponsor and volunteer at the festival – for more information contact Charlie at charlie@southamptonfestivals.com.