THE ninth Charles Causley Festival, held over the weekend, brought comedy, colour and culture to Launceston in equal measures. There was something for all tastes — music, poetry, art exhibitions and workshops, talks, writing workshops and political insights.

The festival was given a memorable start with a concert by Roger McGough and the band LiTTLe MACHiNe. After two hours of terrific music, humour and some serious poetry, they brought the audience to its feet with a rendition of Lily the Pink, the song which became a No 1 hit in November 1968 for Roger’s band at that time, The Scaffold.

For those who didn’t know the lyrics, they appeared above the band — pantomime-style. The next morning, Roger and the band wanted to visit Charles Causley’s house, Cyprus Well. Charles had given Roger some encouragement in the days when the poetry establishment were somewhat critical of so-called pop poetry, and in return, Roger has been supporting efforts to keep Charles’s legacy alive. On the way to the house, Roger insisted on trying his luck at landing a stone on top of Mary Magdalene’s recumbent figure on the church. Alas he failed, but left Launceston with many compliments.

The remainder of the festival built on this early momentum. A film by the Access Theatre group revealed their own interpretations of Causley’s poems and in particular a poem written and read by Tom Remnant stood out. “The enthusiasm and joy were heart-warming,” was the comment of one of the audience.

Over at Number 8 café, Luke Daniels performed amazing feats of musicianship with the unlikely aid of a polyphon. It must be a rarity to have two polyphons in the same town at the same time! At the library, children attempted to build Lego interpretations of Causley’s imagery and were then treated to a puppet show highlighting Cornwall’s worst-ever pirate.

Broadcaster Martyn Oates divulged a few political intrigues before attempting to hint at the political future. “For more than decade,” he said, “politics was very quiet and we journalists wished for something more exciting to happen. Be careful what you wish for!” Predicting anything now is more of an art than a science, he concluded

Rosemary Walters, a former Launcestonian, asked and sometimes answered some intriguing questions about the references to the town in Causley’s poems. In the poem On The Border, Causley asks: “Is it Cornwall. Is it Devon?” and one of the audience pointed out that it was likely that poem was written at the time the county borders were being adjusted! Jane Nancarrow reminisced about her schooldays with Mr Causley as teacher, and Malcolm and Sylvia Wright took their audience on a brief tour of how Causley’s life influenced the poems he wrote.

There were several workshops for those who wanted to improve their writing or artistic skills and the festival glided into Saturday evening with a marvellous concert by local musicians Mike O’Connor and Barbara Griggs. Comedy quartet Sweet ‘n Sour ended the day with laughter — sometimes at the expense of Launceston itself.

The last day brought the charms of owls to the forefront with a talk, given, perhaps appropriately, at the Eagle House Hotel. The perception of these birds is often cuddly (they make good soft toys) and human-like (their eyes face forwards – like ours). But as Miriam Darlington pointed out in her book Owl Sense, these birds are hunters and killers, often ravaging the nests of smaller birds for the fledglings. There is apparently a town in Serbia where one of our rarest owls can be found roosting in their hundreds.

Neal Maya’s Jazz Quarter brought an end to the festivities with a session invoking the work of Dave Brubeck.

After last year’s centenary festival, chairman of the festival committee, Spencer Magill, admitted his concern that the volunteer committee members might show festival fatigue. “Actually, the enthusiasm was as great as ever,” he said. “We felt this year’s programme would appeal to a wide audience, and we’ve been proved right. The feedback so far has been really positive, and we’ve now got to the point that people expect the festival to get bigger and better each year.”