Small, local book festivals are still thriving
Laura Barton’s piece paints an understandably downbeat picture of where we are now in the world of the literary festival (After Baillie Gifford: are literary festivals on their last legs?, 23 October). But writing on day one of the Petworth literary festival, I feel there is another perspective.
The arts as a whole are, without doubt, struggling and the loss of big sponsors such as Baillie Gifford clearly represents a challenge to festivals that have relied on commercial sponsorships. But being at the heart of a community that backs its cultural offerings with private support, our particular festival seems to be riding on the crest of a wave of interest. This, combined with the continuing and active support of the publishing industry, led to our event doubling in size in 2023, and we continue on this huge growth spurt this autumn.
The literary festival as a concept offers a wonderful chemistry of authors promoting new books, local bookshops taking advantage of partner relationships and audiences engaging in debate on all the issues of the day.
As a spin-off in Petworth, every pupil at our local primary school took part in a creative-writing project, something that will now echo throughout our town and the locality.
We are lucky to have local supporters to call on, but if a community can come together, a good idea can and will prosper.
Stewart Collins
Artistic director, Petworth festival, West Sussex
• Here in Richmond, we have an annual walking and book festival in September, which provides 10 days of book events plus guided walks in our glorious countryside. Next year it will be 20 years old and, though it has never been targeted by major publishers, an entirely voluntary team has presented a wide range of well-known and not so well-known authors to an appreciative, mostly local audience. For us, small is beautiful.
I have attended Baillie Gifford-sponsored events a good number of times, at Edinburgh and Cheltenham. They are the platinum standard in book festivals, offering memorable events and unrivalled access to new ideas and outstanding authors. However, often there is too much to take in, an emphasis on selling, and the locality and local people are almost irrelevant. These events are most definitely “gown” and not “town”.
It is the publishing industry that will most mourn the threat to big book festivals. But in a world where sustainability must be at the forefront of our minds, is it such a great idea to bring authors from all over the place and set up a rather expensive shop in someone else’s home town? The article cites the example of Ilkley, which has a different approach. Maybe a lot of smaller, locally led and resourced events are a more organic solution for a changing world.
Kathryn Streatfield
Richmond, North Yorkshire
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