The Festivals

Guaranteed to appeal to the creative and curious, the annual Boswell Children’s Festival brings a weekend of exciting events and hands-on activities to young readers of all ages in Ayrshire.

A sparkling programme of storytelling talks and interactive workshops - including free activities - is led by an amazing array of well-loved children’s authors and popular illustrators. Previous festival years have featured Vivien French, Justin Davies, Nick Sharratt, Kate Leiper, Christopher Lloyd, Macastory, Edward Ross and The Happiness Collectors.

The Boswell Children’s Festival takes place each May in the gorgeous grounds of Dumfries House Estate. With an adventure playground, iconic maze, café and acres of grounds for picnicking, it makes for a wonderful, affordable day out for all the family.

Enjoy 10 inspiring panels with Sunday Times bestselling authors, award-winning writers and publishing professionals, covering everything from live pitching to romantasy and book marketing. Book 1-2-1s with agents and editors, or join editors for afternoon tea at the Russell-Cotes Museum. The lively Author Marketplace, beach walks, yoga, and literary tours are all included. 

VIP packages feature a Friday masterclass and dinner with Katie Fforde, two nights’ seaview accommodation, spa access, and VIP seating (deadline tonight). The festival concludes with an evening networking reception with the Mayor of Bournemouth. Join us - write by the sea!

The Bournemouth Writing Festival inspires writers to write with 100 free and ticketed practical and hands-on events, poetry, workshops, talks, walks, panels, literary agents, performances, writing competitions and networking opportunities. A carefully curated selection of self-published, published and writing professionals impart their knowledge and advice to writers of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and genres, regardless of where they are on their writing journey, taking place in multiple venues across Bournemouth Town Centre.

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As part of the Bournemouth Writing Festival's manifesto, free workshops for underprivileged writers take place during the festival, including for adults with additional needs, homeless, those sidelined from society (ex-prisoners, addicts and refugees) and children in care. Competitions for schools and home-educated children as well as free workshops for children and families during the festival make sure that everyone is included and stories heard.

Bradford Literature Festival (BLF) is one of the top three largest literature festivals in the UK and Europe’s most eclectic and diverse literature festival. Renowned globally as an innovator within the culture sector, BLF forges international partnerships, curating diverse, innovative, and inclusive programmes.

At the heart of BLF is a commitment to artistic brilliance and contemporary discourse, combining renowned literary figures with up-and-coming voices to curate dynamic programmes that spark dialogue and delight audiences.

Embodying a unique perspective and a strong sense of identity, BLF mirrors the pulse of modern Britain and the global community, making it a thought-provoking destination for literary enthusiasts and cultural observers alike.

BLF’s reach extends across the UK and the world. Since our inception in 2014, we have engaged an audience of over 708,000 from 30 countries, welcoming over 155,900 audiences in 2024 alone.

The Braemar Literary Festival, curated and staged by the Fife Arms in collaboration with The Queen's Reading Room was established in 2022 and now returns for its fourth year.

Turn the page on your next big adventure and visit us in our storybook setting from 26th September to 28th September for a weekend celebrating the power and quiet beauty of the written and spoken word and the creative use of text across all artforms.

Our concept of a literary festival was to bring authors together to Bridport, at a particularly fallow time of year for the town, to talk about books and share their ideas with diverse audiences with eclectic interests. From humble beginnings the Festival has grown in stature to be recognised nationally and enjoyed both by writers and all lovers of literature from across the country. We hope there is much to inspire and enlighten in this year’s programme featuring many aspects of the Arts.

We are a community where writers from underrepresented backgrounds are the main event, and diverse audiences can see themselves reflected. A space that gathers together authors, poets, illustrators, musicians and other creatives from the UK and around the world for a book festival like no other.

Over TEN days we will be offering over 90 live events including Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, festival favourites Liz Pichon, Rob Biddulph, The Gruffalo, and Cressida Cowell, and a series of FREE festival events for all the family.

The Brontë Women’s Writing Festival is back for its fifteenth year, celebrating women writers across fiction, non-fiction and scripts. Inspired by the Brontës’ evocative northern home, this year’s focus is on writers from and based in the North, and on stories that centre around northern landscapes and Brontë influence.

We’re delighted to be joined by internationally best-selling authors Tracy Chevalier and Holly Ringland, who’ve both found inspiration in the Brontë story. We’re also thrilled to welcome Oscar-winning writer and actress Emerald Fennell, who’ll be discussing her hotly-anticipated Wuthering Heights adaptation, coming to cinemas next year!

Buckingham Literary Festival is a boutique festival held in the beautiful market town of Buckingham. Over five days in June it showcases some 35 writers and thinkers in a diverse range of talks, discussions, spoken word, theatre, workshops and foodie events designed to inspire, inform, entertain – and provoke. Guest authors have included Antonia Fraser, Victoria Hislop, Luke Jennings, Clare Mackintosh, Roger McGough, Ben Okri, Chris Patten, Anthony Seldon, Elif Shafak and Jacqueline Wilson as well as an ever-growing number of new and emerging local writers. 

BuckLitFest is a Community Interest Company, run entirely by volunteers. It prides itself on being a warm and welcoming festival but can also deliver audiences of up to 300 per event.

There’s a burgeoning Schools Outreach programme as well as standalone events throughout the year held with partners such as Buckingham University and Stowe Arts.

Bude celebrates all things literary, from 13-17 May 2026, when authors, actors, musicians, comedians and workshop leaders head to the North Cornish coast to inspire and delight locals and visitors alike, via the written and spoken word. Our 5th annual festival is packed with literary gems and surprises for all ages and interests.... and, thanks to local businesses, the festival also includes 10 days of free author workshops in our schools to support 'The National Year of Reading 2026'.

With 89 opportunities to get involved in Bude Literary Festival this year you’ll be playing literary-limbo if you intend to get to every event, workshop, walk or talk, but whichever element of the festival appeals to you, we hope you and your friends & family enjoy each experience. We are proud to support ‘Read For Good’ which sends storytellers for children into UK hospitals. We will raise funds for them via raffles at our main evening events. 

Situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on East Devon’s World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast, Budleigh Salterton hosts the most outstanding literary festival in South West England. As a registered charity, our mission is to celebrate books and their authors and promote the art of writing and the enjoyment of reading in our East Devon community and in our local schools.

Although Bury St Edmunds has a rich literary history, it was only in 2017, that a literature festival for the town was established. The festival was founded by a small committee of passionate book lovers keen to make space for the celebration of books and writing in Bury’s cultural calendar.

Welcome to the home of Bute Noir, our annual crime-writing festival held on the Isle of Bute.

Details TBC

Welcome in the autumn with literary talks covering a range of writing genres, live poetry readings and folk music, local craftsfolk, storytelling, fun activities for all the family, in-depth writing workshops, and book signings, all set against the ancient backdrop of Butser Ancient Farm.

Recognised nationally and internationally as one of the UK’s leading arts festivals, Buxton International Festival is a summer celebration of the very best opera, music and literature at the heart of the beautiful Peak District.

Cambridge Literary Festival is a much-loved and regular highlight drawing large audiences from Cambridge and the rest of the UK.

Thousands of wordsmiths, writers and authors have graced our festival stages and have enthralled, entertained, educated and sometimes enraged our audiences. We now welcome over 350 writers and speakers to Cambridge each year and stage events that cover a huge variety of topics.

We debate current issues, present the literary greats alongside debut writers, host scientists, artists, politicians, comedians, historians, journalists, poets, and a vibrant programme of events for our younger audiences.

What Do We Do?

* Bring you an exciting programme of events celebrating storytelling in all its forms.

* Look for ways to engage with children and teens of all ages, seeking to connect with them on their wavelength and inspire the ways that they learn

* There are so many different ways to enjoy stories, through books, audiobooks, storytelling, treasure hunts and in ever increasing digital ways too - we want to explore all of them with you in our festival.

* Utilise the rich variety of venues across the city of Canterbury to provide different types of events

* Involve bookshops and local businesses​

* Have fun!

Capital Crime is one of the world’s largest celebrations of crime and thriller fiction. We invite you and all the best creatives, writers we all love to read, filmmakers we all love to watch to spend two days in our Capital together; delivering a packed schedule of entertaining and thought-provoking events.

We know what counts in the best crime and thriller fiction – engaging characters, a believable storyline, gripping plots, with endings that leave you begging for more. And we know that you want to meet these amazing creatives. So we’ve created this festival just for you. Meet the authors and filmmakers you love and discover new ones.

Cardiff's dedicated literature festival for children is an exciting and fun-filled event aimed at budding bookworms from ages 3-12. Since the first edition in 2013, our festival has sought to entertain young people and enthuse them about the magic of reading with a playful programme of family friendly authors, illustrators, and workshops.