THE winners of the Madness Artist Development (MAD) project will entertain the crowds at the Herne Bay Festival this weekend.

The scheme, run by the Marlowe Theatre and Canterbury City Council's creative development team, crowned its three winners earlier this year.

The trio are now putting on performances after sharing a £2,500 bursary.

Poet Dan Simpson will take to the road to invite people to join the Poetry Party as he canvasses the streets of the town today .

He will be investigating serious and light-hearted issues, "like which is the best flavour of ice-cream", before delivering his campaign speech in the form of a poem.

Fellow winners the Galloping Cuckoos, a newly-formed performance company, will be on a mission to find the perfect nesting ground in Herne Bay on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Marlowe Theatre said the group's combination of physical comedy and vocal harmony "will wow the crowds as they make their way through the streets in their oversized bird cage".

The third winner of the project, contemporary dancer Jacqui Johnston, performed a "heart-warming tale" about a deaf girl last week.

For more details about opportunities like the MAD project visit www.creativecanterbury.com