Celebration of dialects comes to Toon
Gan alang tappy lappy to the National Dialect festival when it kicks off. It'll be mint, urges Tony Henderson
It will be the talk of the town when a national event comes to Tyneside.
Newcastle will be the venue for the annual National Dialect Festival with trophies up for grabs as the Northumbrian Language Society hosts the occasion.
Dialect speakers from locations including Cumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Devon will gather at the County Hotel on Friday and Saturday October 18-19.
Words will be exchanged as the Northumbrians defend the cup they won at last year’s event in Yorkshire for a performance in dialect.
There are free concerts at 8pm on the Friday and Saturday, featuring local singers, poets and musicians including Tony Wilson, Graham Bell, Eileen Beers, Katrina Porteous, Bob Bolam, Kim and John Bibby and the Rothbury Poets
The Saturday programme includes the Bill o’ Bowes trophy at 10am for a recited or sung piece in dialect and the Eric Topping cup will be contested for a dialect performance at 11.30am.
At 2pm the Northumbrian Society’s annual Roland Bibby memorial lecture will be given by Newcastle University linguist Adam Mearns on how speakers switch between dialect and standard English in conversation.
The Sam Lacock trophy at 3.30pm will be for the best piece of written Northumbrian dialect.
At 8pm each area will have 15 mins to contest the Far Welter’d trophy for a performance in their home dialect.
Event judges will be Adam Mearns, Northumbrian Society president and poet Katrina Porteous and playwright Paul Mein, who is poet in residence at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Hauxley nature reserve.
All events are free but people are asked to register their interest with society vice president Kim Bibby-Wilson on 01670 513308.
“The festival shows that dialects are alive and kicking across the country,” said Kim. “It is a celebration of the different dialects of English.
”The Northumbrian Language Society invites all canny folk from across Northumberland and Tyneside to enjoy a weekend of entertainment as they welcome visitors from Devon northwards. “
It is expected that one topic for debate will be the recent controversy over a Newcastle University language guide for their researchers in which they outline issues of gender and sexism and advise against the use of the word “pet” as being potentially patronising.
Kim’s verdict: “Pet is a wonderful term of endearment.”