Salman Rushdie, Alan Hollinghurst, Sarah Waters, Miranda Hart, Matt Lucas, Robert Webb, Russell Brand, Ian Rankin, Sarah Millican, Nadiya Hussain, Simon Schama, Amit Chaudhuri, Paula Hawkins, Bill Nighy, Roddy Doyle, Michael Morpurgo, Judy Murray, Harry Enfield, Alison Steadman, Michael Parkinson, Lauren Child, Armando Iannucci, Nigella Lawson, Twiggy, Brian May, Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish, Robert McCrum, The Famous Five, Where’s Wally, Philippa Gregory, Nikesh Shukla, Peggy Seeger, Scarlett Moffatt, June Sarpong, Charles Spencer, Ali-A and Al Murray to headline.
This year, the UK’s oldest and one of its biggest literature festivals welcomes fans of books, film, and TV with ten days of literary celebration, discussion, and debate.
The family-friendly Festival Village comes together in the heart of Regency Cheltenham, complete with food, drink, live performances, and free activities. Around 1000 speakers will take part in over 550 events and literary happenings. The Festival theme is Who Do We Think We Are? asking key questions about British identity and celebrating Britain’s rich literary and cultural heritage.
The programme brings together some of our brightest minds, most incisive commentators, literary greats, fresh new voices and stars of stage and screen. The diverse programme covers history, current affairs, visual art, sport, food, fashion, lifestyle, psychology, science and business as well as fiction, poetry and a Family programme packed with events and workshops for toddlers to teens.
Five Guest Curators will bring fresh perspectives and voices to the Festival. They are: Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor; Sarah Moss, novelist, travel writer and academic; Robin Niblett, Director of Chatham House; Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley; and Nikesh Shukla, author, editor and campaigner.
As well as the revamped Festival Village, a series of themed events and fine dining takes place in The Daffodil, a sumptuous art deco venue, and free after-hours comedy, spoken word and music at the Festival Club @ Hotel du Vin. On the first Saturday night of the Festival, last year’s highly successful Lit Crawl returns– transforming a bar crawl into a fast-paced night of free literary delights.
Dates: Friday 6th October – Sunday 15th October 2017
Venue: Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham, UK
Website: www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature