Poets and photographers in Shepton Mallet and beyond are being invited to get creative as two of the town's annual Snowdrop Festival competitions open for entries.

The festival's photography and poetry contests are now in their tenth year, with cash prizes available across three age groups and entries welcomed from around the world.

Adults can win £300 in each competition, while the winner of the 12 to 17 category will receive £100 and the winner aged 11 and under will receive £50.

Organisers are particularly hoping to see plenty of entries from the South West this year alongside the international submissions which have become a regular feature of the competitions.

The theme for the 2027 photography competition is Trees in the Landscape, with landscape photographer Charlie Waite judging the entries.

Photographers are being asked to look beyond simply taking a picture of a tree and instead consider how it sits within the landscape, whether that is a woodland, open countryside or an urban setting.

Waite said: "Trees are among the most eloquent subjects in the landscape. They speak quietly of endurance, change and the passage of time, yet they are never separate from the world around them.

"For this competition, I would encourage you to look beyond simply photographing a tree."

He said entrants could focus on everything from bark and individual branches to the effect of rain, mist or early morning light.

The poetry competition takes a different theme for 2027: Water is Life.

Author and poet Wendy Pratt will judge the entries and is asking writers to think about their own relationship with water, as well as its importance to the environment.

She said: "I want you to think not only of the necessity of water for survival, but how you, personally, interact with water."

Pratt said poems could explore experiences ranging from swimming and rivers to drought, melting glaciers and extreme weather.

She added: "Think outside the box, surprise me. I want to see poems that take the ordinary and make it extraordinary."

The photography competition closes on Sunday, 10 January 2027, while entries for the poetry competition must be submitted by Sunday, 3 January 2027.

Full rules and details on how to enter are available through the Shepton Snowdrop Festival competitions page.

The competitions form part of the wider Shepton Snowdrop Festival, which will return to the town in February 2027.

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