The Autumn Book Festivals You Won't Want to Miss
When the weather turns, there's nothing better than finding a good book to curl up with
Ilkley Literature Festival
4th–20th October, Ilkley
Bringing together bookworms and the best contemporary writers for more than 50 years, this year the festival will feature bestselling novelist Kate Atkinson (who will be discussing her newest Jackson Brodie mystery), Ben Tish on his culinary love of the Mediterranean, and Jodi Picoult on her latest novel By Any Other Name. The events will be held in venues across the centre of Ilkley with tickets still available to buy online.
Off The Shelf Festival of Words
7th October–3rd November, Sheffield
Sheffield is the place to be for book lovers this October. One of Yorkshire’s largest literary festivals, it takes over venues across the city to bring audiences the most exciting literary talent in the UK. In 2024, comedian Richard Ayoade will be at the Octagon Centre on Monday 7th to talk about his recent novel and his hilarious quest to rescue the playwright Harauld Hughes from obscurity. You can also catch author Asako Yuzuki on her cult bestselling crime novel Butter, which follows a gourmet chef-turned-killer and the journalist trying to crack the case.
Berwick Literary Festival
7th–13th October, Berwick
Returning for its 10th year (and with a recent endorsement from Michael Palin) Berwick Literary Festival is back and better than ever. Events include baby sensory storytelling sessions, Sumayya Usmani on Pakistani food, Alistair Moffat on the history of the English-Scottish border, and the Duke of Northumberland on his new book Lions of The Red Rose and the history of the Percy family. Find out more as we recently caught up with the Duke to learn about this fascinating part of our history.
Durham Book Festival
10th–13th October, Durham
Back for 2024, this year’s festival line up includes more than 35 events over three days with some of the hottest names in UK fiction making an appearance, including nature-writer Kathryn Tann, children’s story time with author Bethan Clarke, and a talk from Horrible Histories author Terry Deary on his new book (for adults) on the history of Britain and its enemies.
Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival
10th–20th October, Harrogate
Hosted across venues in Harrogate, expect to see a whole host of familiar faces at this year’s festival. Adam Kay (the award-winning author of This Is Going to Hurt) will be at The Crown Hotel on Sunday (13th October) to discuss his latest book Undoctored and what life is like after leaving medicine. In the same venue on Wednesday (16th) you can listen to Victoria Hislop chat about her newest novel The Figurine. Tickets are available to purchase online now.
