WETHERBY FESTIVAL 2025 COMEDY POEM COMPETITION

The Wetherby Festival Comedy Poem Competition is back for its second edition. We believe that this is the only open-entry funny poem competition in the UK - please email in to correct us if we're wrong!

Have you got a poem that'll tickle our sides?

If you have, you can win a prize!

We will award prizes for:

  •       Funniest Poem Performance

  •     Funniest Poem - ages 12-16

  •       Funniest Poem - ages 11 and under

  •       Funniest Poem in Yorkshire (submitted by poets who live in Yorkshire, England).

The winner of each of the above will receive £25 in book tokens.

A Bead of Sweat on my Dentist’s Nose by Nick Edwards (one of our judges)

The dull bit

  • Please email your poem to festivalpoetry@wetherbyfestival.co.uk by 11:59pm (BST) on Sunday 14th September 2025.

  • The poem must be in English. We accept entries from any location.

  • You can either submit a video (email attachment or a link, e.g. to a Google Drive) or text of the poem.

  • Winners will be notified by 30th September 2025.

  • The poem must be written by the entrant. Use of AI - really? Give over.

  • The poem cannot have been previously published anywhere other than the entrant’s social media. Poets retain all rights to their work, but must allow Wetherby Festival to publish them on the Festival’s website and social media.

  • We are happy to accept submissions from teachers or parents/guardians on behalf of under 18’s - please make this clear in the email.

  • Ages for the category prizes will be taken as of 14th September 2025.

 

When emailing the poem, please include the following info in your email (any missing info may result in your entry being withdrawn). A suggested layout is attached to download.:

  • Full name

  • Poet/stage name (optional)

  • Country of residence

  • Home/school postcode

  • Date of birth

Our sponsors:


See what our winners did last year. Also a firm fan favourite. We had lots of laughs judging the entries which you will understand when you read these. Click here to see and read the poems.

This competition is funded by and in memory of Ted Kilner, a valued founder and supporter of the Festival