MAKING a Song and Dance of It is back on Saturday, November 17.

This annual Amnesty International benefit, now in its 12th year at Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran, is the usual eclectic mix of song and dance from 7.30pm-11.15pm

Creating the right ambience as you arrive on the evening will be local busker Squeezebox Robbie and the evening will be opened by Ben Lake MP who will light the Amnesty candle.

Then there will be the opportunity to catch a reprise of My Fair Lady for those who missed the great summer production in RhosygGilwen, with the My Fair Lady Chorus - your chance to sing along with all the familiar songs.

Local poet Paul Steffan Jones will read some of his poems and announce the winner of the haiku competition.

Rise to the challenge and bring your haikus on the theme of Making a Song and Dance of It and pin them up in the foyer where there will be the usual opportunity to make or sign a card to a prisoner of conscience.

After that, guaranteed to get your feet tapping and up on to the dance floor, will be Heb Enw, who will perform their morris dancing and invite you to join them in a ceilidh.

Then bop along to Cilgerran's own Doc and the Headshrinkers for a rousing finish to the evening.

There will be a new twist this year as well - a haiku competition.

Everyone and anyone is invited to submit a haiku poem on the theme of Making a Song and Dance of It which is what Amnesty International in effect does in order to achieve its objectives.

Bring them along on the night and the winning entry judged by Paul Steffan Jones will winan illustrated book of haikus about animals.

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of three lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have five syllables and the middle line has seven syllables.

Haikus are short poems that don’t rhyme, but instead focus on the total number of syllables in each line (syllables are the sounds created by a vowel or sometimes by the letter ‘Y’ and are where you pause when saying a word).

Traditional haikus use a total of 17 syllables spread over three lines of text. Most haikus use a formula of 5-7-5: The first and third lines contain five syllables and the middle line contains seven. (Some modern haikus use variations on this formula.)

Though compact in size, a haiku still delivers a message. Some are humorous, while others make an observation or connect two opposing images. Here is an example of a haiku by the poet Basho (1644-1694):

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

Bar with refreshments open through the evening and amazing raffle prizes. Tickets £12 in advance from Rhosygilwen 01239 841387 www.rhosygilwen.co.uk or £14 on the door.