Patrons include the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, and Peter Florence, founder of the Hay Festival.
The original trustees of the festival were Peter Arscott, John Burns, Alan Lloyd, Martyn Moxley, Richard Surman and Margaret Rigby.
[3] Ledbury holds its main programme over two weeks in the summer, and its work continues throughout the year, with projects that involve local primary schools and John Masefield High School, as well as hundreds of local people through its community projects.
[7] British poets who have performed at the festival include Simon Armitage, Al Alvarez, Patience Agbabi, Wendy Cope, John Burnside, Helen Dunmore, Douglas Dunn, James Fenton, Ruth Padel, George Szirtes and Benjamin Zephaniah.
International poets include Billy Collins, Mark Doty (USA), Yang Lian (China), Gozo Yoshimasu (Japan), Ko Un (Korea), Kristina Ehin (Estonia), Ali Cobby Eckerman (Australia), Basem Al-Nabriss (Palestine), Fadhil Al-Azzawi (Iraq) and Arundhathi Subramaniam (India).