On the week that Ledbury Poetry Festival launched its Millennium programme, chairman Alan Lloyd hailed the planned literary celebration as being of national importance and the strongest to date.

The festival has received over £60,000 of National Lottery money this year to bring poetry to the people through workshop events in residential homes, youth centres and rural parishes.

Mr Lloyd called this outreach work, and similar sessions in schools, "an extremely important plank of the festival".

But it is the strength of the literary line-up this year that really puts Ledbury on the cultural map.

Mr Lloyd said: "I'm told we are now considered on a par with Cheltenham, London, Hay and even Edinburgh. We are in the big league now.

"There are not many festivals that concentrate on poetry."

Stars this year include Carol Ann Duffy, who was in the short-list for the position of Poet Laureate, which finally went to Andrew Motion, a poet who filled the big hall at John Masefield High School last year.

Other literary big-guns will include Craig Raine, editor of the literary magazine Arete, and Simon Armitage, who shot to fame in the 80s with his collection "Zoom", and is now widely regarded as one of the leading lights of his generation.

Poet-in-residence for the Millennium Dome, he was commissioned to write the 1,000-line Millennium poem, Killing Time, to mark the global event.

Showbiz and media stars at the festival will include Prunella Scales, Jeremy Paxman and Francine Stock.

The festival will run from June 29 to July 9. The opening festival service takes place at 6pm on June 29, in St Michael and All Angels' Church.

The opening address will be given by the Very Rev Robert Willis, Dean of Hereford.