Many family events at Budleigh Literary Festival

Visits from well-known authors and illustrators next month

There are dozens of fantastic children’s and family events at this year’s Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival.
 
A full programme of events for families, some of which are free, takes place alongside the main festival which takes place from September 20-24 at venues across the town.
 
World-famous illustrator Axel Scheffler, who took Julia Donaldson's wonderful stories and brought them to life through illustration, will be coming to Budleigh on Saturday, September 23. Tickets are selling fast for this event, where attendees will even get the chance to draw some of their favourite characters alongside Axel.
 
There will also be a weekend full of free activities for youngsters in the mini marquee on the Green, which this year, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, is focused on Horrible Histories. And, as a bonus for lovers of Horrible Histories, there will be a chance to hear from illustrator Martin Brown will.
 
Wren Music return with workshops for youngsters, and festival favourite Kristina Stephenson will be welcoming little ones to the wonderful world of Sir Charlie Stinky Socks in a fully interactive show. Spring watch presenter Megan McCubbin will be exploring An Atlas of Endangered Species and telling the stories of the scientists, rangers and conservationists who are fighting to save these extraordinary creatures from extinction.
 
There will be a comic art masterclass with Kev F, whilst scientist and BBC presenter Madeleine Finlay will be talking about Brilliant Bugs for Breakfast. Attendees will get the chance to taste some bugs and design a futuristic invention in this interactive session. Storyteller Martin Maudsley will tell stories of all creatures great and small through the folktales and myths, music, and audience participation.
 
Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary is a charitable organisation. It is committed to supporting and encouraging literacy and to inspiring young people to read and enjoy books. It takes authors into local schools and buys books for children who may not have one. This year it will be taking five authors, including David Baddiel and Emma Carroll, into local schools. 
 
The main festival will be welcoming some big names to Budleigh Salterton this year, including poet Lemn Sissay, Alastair Campbell, Polly Toynbee, and Sir Alexander McCall Smith. It will also be staging three events in memory of its late honorary president Dame Hilary Mantel, including performances by renowned actors Ben Miles and Anton Lesser, both of whom appeared in the adaptation of Dame Hilary’s novel Wolf Hall.
 
With just five weeks to go until the start of the festival, tickets are selling quickly, with some events already sold out.
 
Sue Briggs, chair of the Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival committee, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming an interesting and inspiring lineup of speakers and authors to Budleigh. Thanks to everyone who has already bought tickets, we’ve got off to a flying start, so are expecting to have a lively five days of talks and activities.”
 
The festival, which has a hub marquee with a café and pop-up Waterstones bookshop, is strongly supported by local businesses and donors and is recognised as a partner by Exeter City of Literature.