The Festivals

Welcome to one of the UK’s friendliest festivals!

Borders Book Festival hosts more than 100 events in June each year. With the latest fiction, current affairs, history, and politics, along with personalities from sport, music and entertainment, there is something for every age and interest. We also host a range of health and wellbeing sessions to take part in during the festival.

Our family-friendly site is free for all to explore, where you can enjoy local artisan food and drink, browse the bookshop and marketplace, and be entertained by local artists and musicians, all in the beautiful surroundings of the Scottish Borders.

Boston Book Festival was established in 2021 as a weekend event in September. It has now expanded to 2 weekend festivals a year – June with a dedicated theme (History or Crime) and September, a range of genre.

Our aim is to champion diverse authors from across the community, raise the profile of Boston nationally and create new opportunities for all ages to access and enjoy literature. 

We have heard nationally acclaimed authors such as Michael Morpurgo, Benjamin Zephaniah and Tracy Borman, we have held children’s events with internationally acclaimed authors such as Hannah Gold, had visits from the elderly residents of Care Homes and every year we provide a free event for local authors to showcase their work as well as putting on a range of other sessions.

The world’s only festival of biography and memoir, normally set in the spectacular grounds of Dumfries House, draws an enthusiastic audience attracted by its unique theme.

Inspired by the great Ayrshire biographer James Boswell of Auchinleck, at the heart of the Festival is a programme of stories taken from the inspirational lives of people past and present - told through talks, drama, art and music.

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 is dedicated to inspiring, educating and empowering writers of all levels and backgrounds. Whether you are picking up a pen for the very first time, developing a work-in-progress or preparing to publish your latest manuscript,  the festival provides a welcoming space to support you on your writing journey.

Through a flexible, accessible hybrid model, the festival features accessible virtual online sessions alongside vibrant in-person events in local venues and free, inclusive community initiatives. From masterclasses with writing professionals to interactive  creative sessions, every element is designed to inspire writers to write regardless of their age, background or ability.

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.

For the first time ever Brighton Book Festival is joining forces with independent bookshops the Book Nook, Afrori, Little Green Pig and Brighton Youth center to present a book festival dedicated to children, families and young people.

We invite you to join us at Jubilee Library for a big day of activites, including a Storytime, Writing and Graphic Novel Workshops, and a big Draw off with a range of wonderful children’s authors and illustrators. We have planned a real mix of events to ensure fun for the whole family - there are events for kids of all ages and parents alike to enjoy.

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.

Hear leading voices from politics, history, journalism and culture. A day of panels and conversation. An exciting chance to meet the thinkers shaping our world.

Taking place every September in the picturesque village of Haworth, the Brontë Parsonage Museum’s annual festival celebrates contemporary women’s writing. Expect a weekend of author talks, panel discussions and workshops set against the cobbled streets and sweeping moorland where the Brontës’ novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall were written.

Guests in recent years include Emerald Fennell, Tracy Chevalier, Jacqueline Wilson and Sally Wainwright. Whether you’re into fiction, non-fiction, poetry or scripts, this festival puts women's stories at the centre.

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.

It’s hard to believe that it’s ten years since our first Bute Noir, back in the days when we squeezed as many people as we could into Rothesay Library, Bute Museum and Print Point.

Since then, some of the biggest names in crime fiction have graced our wee festival doon the watter. Sir Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves, Mick Herron, Denise Mina, Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre and Stuart MacBride have come to Rothesay along with authors from across the world.

Ten years on, we have another terrific international lineup to entertain you, with authors from ten different countries. Among our headliners are queen of suspense Ruth Ware, the master of the missing person mystery Tim Weaver, Traitors’ star Harriet Tyce and the queen of Irish crime Liz Nugent. We are celebrating 30 years of Chris Brookmyre, welcoming bestsellers including Louise Candlish, Alan Parks and Erin Kelly, as well as Andi Osho, star of TV’s Blue Lights, and international guests including Orjan Karlsson, Jenny Lund Madsun and CJ Howell.

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.