The hustle and bustle of a busy city centre may be just a stone’s throw away but hidden behind the walls of a secret garden in the heart of Canterbury is a wonderland of music, arts, crafts and performances.

Peep behind the old brick wall and you could have an unexpected encounter with poetry and storytelling with the Wise Words festival – 10 days of silliness, secrets, storytelling, and family fun, running from Friday, April 28, to Sunday, May 7.

Headline acts include poets Roger McGough and Lemn Sissay, Hollie McNish and Shane Koyczan, all inside a setting with spring flowers and sights around every corner.

Whether it’s a drumming workshop or the fireside favourite fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel, the festival has a dedicated programme of events for children and toddlers. CBeebies Spot Bot stars, the Three Half Pints will be buffing their boots and flourishing their feathers in their most ridiculous adventure yet: The Three Musketeers.

A Heart at Sea offers an epic folk tale told on a miniature scale, following a boy who bottles up his heart and throws it into the ocean.

You’ve Got Dragons, a show by Taking Flight Theatre, shows one child’s journey to come to terms with their dragons and has creative captioning, British Sign Language and audio description.

Poems, songs, stories, games and improvisation come together in a lively dance in a special children’s version of a spoken word show Tongue-Fu. Wise Words is produced by Workers of Art, a not for profit organisation, and was first held in 2012.

For further details visit wisewordsfestival.co.uk