Five things to do at Ryedale Book Festival

The festival hub this year will be in the Old Town Hall. Events will be upstairs including performances from the Band in Residence who have travelled from Bristol – The Bookshop Band. Britain’s leading book sculptor Su Blackwell will be talking about her astonishingly intricate creations and holding a masterclass in the afternoon.

There is an events about “the life of a book” and a book fair for local writers and more book-related events that have been created by other charities in the community such as the Croft Community, local churches and the Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall in nearby Coxwold.

Special mention should be made of a literary lunch at The Talbot with Clare Morpurgo, wife of War Horse author Michael Morpurgo and daughter of Allen Lane on Saturday. The focus of Clare’s talk will be her father, who founded the Penguin publishing house 80 years ago and defended the publication of DH Lawrence’s scandalous Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

Saturday evening begins with a hilarious tour of Yorkshire’s Famous Sportsman by Sports Columnist and writer Harry Pearson, followed by more laughter in The Milton Rooms with Radio 4 and Edinburgh regular John Hegley.

On Sunday Nature lovers should head to Castle Gardens, accessed from Orchard Fields on Old Malton Gate for “a festival within a festival” on Sunday from 10.30am – 3.00 pm. Guests will include respected environmental writer Michael McCarthy, storytellers, musicians, poets and The Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda Owen.

Wildlife artist Matt Sewell, dubbed as the Banksy of Birds, will be creating a huge mural in the gardens.

On Sunday five writers covering five different writing genres will all be speaking at the Old Town Hall, where the Waterstones pop-up book shop is also located. Ranging from bestselling historical novelist Iain Pears to crime writer Frances Brody to Lucy Foley’s debut novel covering a trans-generational romance that wowed the critics earlier in the year to Man Booker Prize nominee Stephen Kelman, not the forget non—fiction writer Christopher Tadgell who is a leading authority on architecture. Something for everyone the organisers of the festival hope.

The finale of the weekend involves a celebration of Life in North Yorkshire with entertaining speakers Neil Hanson and Yorkshire’s most famous shepherdess, Amanda Owen. This event has been created with community partner Ryedale Special Families.

Tickets are available from the website www.ryedalebookfestival.com