Dates announced for Derby Book Festival 2017

The dates are announced today for the third Derby Book Festival.  Next year’s Festival will be held from Friday 9 June to Saturday 17 June 2017 in venues across the city and will again be developed in partnership with local organisations and businesses.  The dates for next year mean the Festival will be held a week later than the previous two to avoid the half term holidays.  

Liz Fothergill, High Sheriff of Derbyshire and Chair of Derby Book Festival commented: “We know from feedback that some people have been unable to attend because they are away on holiday with their families during the half term.  The dates for next year mean the Festival starts a week after the schools return thus enabling more people to attend.” “We were delighted with the success of this year’s Festival with ticket sales up by 33% on 2015.  We held 90 events in 42 venues over the ten days offering something for everyone whatever their age or interests.  We received extensive feedback from this year’s Festival goers giving us lots of ideas about who to invite and how to improve next year’s programme.  We aim to include a good range of fiction and non-fiction authors across a variety of subjects, particularly ones with a distinctly Derby character.”

Following the success of the first two Festivals, plans are already underway and the organisers will be announcing some of next year’s authors before Christmas.   The Festival aims to bring Derby’s residents together in a love of books and also to inspire new readers to appreciate the pleasure and power of reading.

This year’s Festival included an ambitious programme of events and activities with headline authors including Carol Ann Duffy, Tracy Chevalier, Simon Callow, Ken Livingstone, Matthew Parris, Sunjeev Sahota, Alison Weir, Joan Bakewell and James Naughtie.  The Festival also welcomed many local writers and provided opportunities for aspiring authors to broaden their skills and help them on the way to publication.