Edward Capern Festival 2026
Devon CPRE sponsored the inaugural festival to celebrate ‘Devonshire’s Robbie Burns’ on Devon Day, 4 June 2026
We were really pleased to sponsor the first Edward Capern Festival, which took place on Devon Day (Thursday, 4 June) in Heanton Punchardon, near Braunton, North Devon, honouring the ‘Postman Poet of North Devon’, also known as ‘Devonshire’s Robbie Burns’ or ‘Devon’s Bard’.
Edward Capern (1819–1894) composed a wealth of poems and songs about the Devon countryside while going about his job delivering the mail to far-flung villages. He became famous throughout Victorian England. He died in Braunton and was buried in the churchyard at St Augustine’s in Heanton Punchardon, where the first day of an annual Festival to commemorate this local literary hero was organised by the church and the residents’ association.
Devon CPRE Chairman Steve Crowther, who lives in the village, invited people to submit their own poems about Devon’s countryside to win a £500 prize as part of the first Edward Capern Award for the ‘Postman Poet’ of 2026, sponsored by Devon CPRE.
Steve said, “As Edward Capern went about his rounds as a postman, he composed poems and songs celebrating the glory of Devon’s countryside. As an organisation that equally loves Devon, we at Devon CPRE have decided that in our centenary year, we would help to revive his memory. So, we’re working with the community and church here at Heanton Punchardon to create the first-ever Edward Capern Festival.
“We’ve decided that this year we should also introduce the very first Edward Capern ‘Postman Poet’ of the Year award. Something we can start this year and then build as a recognition of citizen poets. So if you’ve got any poetry in you, of any kind, celebrating Devon’s nature, our landscapes, our way of life, send it to me.”
A two-day programme of events took place in Heanton Punchardon:
Thursday 4 June, 7–9pm, An Evening of Music and Poetry at St Augustine’s Church
Local author Liz Shakespeare, an authority on Capern, joined musicians Mick Wyke and Becki Driscoll to celebrate the life, poems and songs of ‘Devonshire’s Robbie Burns’. Tickets were £10. Drinks and snacks were available.
