A FESTIVAL to help people come to terms with the taboo subject of death is returning to Oxford.

The Kicking the Bucket Festival will take place at various venues from now until Sunday, November 13, with the Friends Meeting House in St Giles being the main venue.

There were two previous festivals in 2012 and 2014 and this year's programme will include music, drama and discussion groups to entertain and inform the public about death, dying and coping with loss.

Organiser Liz Rothschild recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe, where her show, Outside the Box, a live show about death, made a big impact on her audiences.

To publicise the show she took a cardboard coffin onto the streets of the Scottish capital.

Ms Rothschild, from Faringdon, who performed her show at the North Wall Arts Centre in North Oxford last night, said: "Lots of people tried out our cardboard coffin, including children, adults and one brave policewoman in full uniform.

"It generated lots of passing responses too such as 'Oh that's what a cardboard coffin looks like - I've always wondered' to 'that's what I want'.

"Someone else said 'I used to make these in Australia.'"

Ms Rothschild runs Westmill Woodland Burial Ground near Faringdon, where she offers families funerals to meet their specific needs at the 'green' burial site.

She added: "Facing death is the best way to reduce our fear of it.

"In my show I talk about how much more difficult it can be when people don't talk to their families about what sort of funerals they want, for instance.

"Most folk have no idea that you don't legally have to have a coffin - you can use a simple shroud.

"Or you can be buried in a giant cigar, a ballet shoe, or a home-decorated cardboard coffin in felt or willow.

"I share my experiences and afterwards invite other people to share theirs - it can be so uplifting.

"One young woman told me she spent the next few hours after seeing the show really appreciating being alive."

Duncan Forbes, from Charlbury, co-organiser of the festival, is the former manager of The Shakespeare Hospice in Stratford-upon-Avon.

He said: "Nowadays a lot of people want to end their lives in familiar surroundings and I think it is important that people talk about how they want to end their lives before it is too late to have that conversation.

"The aim of the festival is to generate discussion about death and preparing for it, and sometimes the discussions will be quite humorous.

"One session at the Friends Meeting House on Saturday, November 5 at 8pm is called Laughing in the Face of Death, which will feature comedian Andy Hamilton, and Vicar of Dibley writer Paul Mayhew-Archer."

For further information visit kickingthebucket.co.uk