DEATH is on the agenda in York this week as the city hosts the Before I Die Festival.

Held to coincide with Dying Matters Awareness Week, it's the first of its kind in the city and is designed to address a social need to talk about end-of-life issues.

Among the events will be "death cafes" discussing attitudes and questions about death, a discussion by experts about whether to legalise assisted dying and an event of "music and poetry to die for".

Professor Celia Kitzinger, from the department of sociology at the University of York, is curator of the festival.

She said: “Death is often a taboo subject which many people are reluctant to discuss, but through my research and as a result of experiences within my own family, I have become convinced that we urgently need to talk about end-of- life issues as individuals and as a society.”

The full programme and details are available on the festival website www.beforeidiefestival.co.uk.