Wigtown Book Festival kicks off on Friday with over 10,000 tickets already sold.
More than 250 literary events and activities will run across the main programme, Big Wig children’s festival and Wigtown YA’s series for young people from September 27 until October 6.
Some have already sold out including tonight’s An Evening with Pam Ayres and Martin Sixsmith but tickets are still available for a host of famous faces featured from Scottish actors Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson to naturalist Kate Humble and from singer/songwriter Cerys Matthews, to novelist Irvine Welsh and Channel 4’s international editor Lindsey Hilsum. Not forgetting Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and actor James Cosmo.
The 10-day literary celebration in Scotland’s National Book Town will also have the traditional opening night fireworks over Wigtown Bay, gathering at the Mercat Cross at 8.30pm on Friday and following members of the Kirkcudbright and District Pipe Band down Bank Street to the viewing area. Everyone is welcome.
The environment will be a key theme at this year’s festival and, for this, a central strand will be Change the Stories. This looks at new stories about climate change, and there will also be the Coastal Fringe – which will invite visitors to experience for themselves the beautiful Solway shoreline around Wigtown in the company of speakers.
As part of Change the Stories strand, there will be a Memorial Service at 6pm on Saturday for the iconic Hadrian’s Wall Sycamore Gap Tree, with original contributions from commissioned writers and artists.
Adrian Turpin, Wigtown Book Festival artistic director, said: “Like Ancient Rome, all roads lead to Wigtown from this weekend as legions of visitors descend on Scotland’s National Book Town. Now in its 26th year, the festival is a celebration of curiosity and a forum for discussion and debate.”
Dr Fraser Hunter, principal curator of prehistoric and Roman archaeology at National Museums Scotland will continue that link by exploding some of the myths surrounding the presence of the colonising power which came north, saw and conquered no less than three times – and their effect on the region.
Fraser said: “I want to address some of the myths. We often think of their world stopping at Hadrian’s Wall – it didn’t, Scotland was in or on the edge of the Roman world. They invaded three times, coming twice into Galloway.
“We also often have a bit of an Asterix view of the Romans, poor Italians shivering in the cold and facing fierce, indomitable tribesman.
“It was much more complex than that. Who was a Roman? The army was a huge ethnic and cultural mix and very few of the solders serving here would have been from the heart of the empire.
“And as for the people living here. What do you do when the Roman army turns up on your doorstep? Fight, run, do a deal? I want to give a sense of how different groups made different decisions.”
For Fraser, it will be a welcome homecoming as he was born and raised in the area – his mother is from Kirkcudbright and his father Jack, a much-loved historian of the region was from Wigtown.
This year’s festival will also include a new Food Festival hosted by The Hebridean Baker, Coinneach MacLeod, which includes a cake decorating demo with Peter Sawkins and a cooking demonstration with Café Canna chef Gareth Cole.
Coinneach will be joined, among others, by Masterchef finalist Sarah Rankin and Great British Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins at what is being billed as a “festival-within-a-festival” – dedicated to food, and featuring three days of talks, interviews and demonstrations from October 4 to 6.
And he will launch his new book, The Hebridean Baker: The Scottish Cookbook, at Wigtown
Children’s authors include Frank Cottrell Boyce, Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin, and the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Award 2024, Pari Thomson.
The book festival will again strongly represent Scottish writing with appearances by Andrew O’Hagan (Caledonian Road) and Abir Mukherjee (Hunted), as well as acclaimed debut novels from Ali Millar (Ava Anna Ada), Tom Newlands (Only Here, Only Now) and Elle Machray (Remember. Remember).
The non-fiction programme will feature, among others: William Dalrymple, David Baddiel, Helena Kelly, historian Kathryn Hughes, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, Jessica Hepburn, Russell Jones, The Hoof GP Graeme Parker, and one of Scotland’s greatest motorcycle racers, Dalbeattie’s Ian Simpson.
The festival is also aiming to be accessible to all and an accessibility guide is available on its website – which includes details on all events – and concessions include free tickets for carers and for young people aged 15-25.
Organisers have also introduced the Standby Day Pass which is an affordable option for keen festival-goers as, for £20, visitors can gain entry to any event with available seating, on the day of the pass purchased.
For more details see www.wigtownbookfestival.com.