Book it! The best literary festivals to attend this year

As all PRs know, storytelling matters and whether for clients’ or personal inspiration, book festivals can give every brain a boost. Here are seven of the best in 2026 . . .

By Ali Catterall

From cosy weekend getaways to sprawling 10-day spectacles, the UK’s literary festivals are cultural playgrounds, where publishers, thought leaders, and podcasters all jostle for stage time. For PRs, these events are golden opportunities to get clients talking, moderating, or hosting in front of audiences who actually pay attention. And for anyone else, really good for the soul – you might leave slightly smarter than you arrived.

Oxford Literary Festival, 21–29 March

Nine days of brain food set amid the dreaming spires and ivy-covered colleges where half the guests probably studied. Think: historians, scientists, philosophers, poets, and ivy-covered novelists in ivy-covered halls. 2026 highlights? No fewer than three Booker prize winners – John Banville, Yann Martel, and Howard Jacobson. While this year’s headliners include Michael Morpurgo on Black Beauty, Simon Schama on the history of antisemitism, Pam Ayres reading from Doggedly Onward: A Life in Poems, Antony Beevor on Ra-Ra-Rasputin, and Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler dissecting The Gruffalo.

Oxford Literary Festival

Winchester Books Festival, 17–19 April

Very much the new kid on the block, Winchester only launched in 2023 thanks to three book lovers who decided the city deserved its own literary weekend. Cozy yet lively, it’s grown a loyal following without losing its warm, intimate charm. Speakers for this year include Sir Tony Robinson, Lynda La Plante, Kathy Lette, Tom Bradby and John Suchet. Past line-ups have included Earl Spencer, Marina Wheeler, Daisy Goodwin, Federica Amati, Dame Kelly Holmes, David Nicholls, and Susie Dent. Perfect if you want audiences hanging on your every word without disappearing into a sea of events.

Winchester Book Festival

Hay Festival, 21-31 May

“The Woodstock of the mind,” said Bill Clinton. But with fewer acid casualties. Confirmed guests for 2026 include Maggie O’Farrell with her epic Land, Kae Tempest debuting Having Spent Life Seeking, and Prue Leith and Bear Grylls swapping favourite reads. Tim Berners-Lee will be wrestling with the web in the age of AI, Jeremy Bowen delivers this year’s Christopher Hitchens Lecture on War, Peace and Truth, and Fab Four lovers Samira Ahmed and Stuart Maconie will happily geek out about The Beatles.

Hay Festival

Belfast Book Festival, 4-11 June

Run by the Crescent Arts Centre, Northern Ireland’s flagship literary festival is quietly growing in profile, attracting international and local authors, and emerging voices for a week of readings, panels, workshops and writing competitions, including the coveted Mairtín Crawford Awards. Previous festivals have guested Roddy Doyle, Naomi Wolf, Terry Waite, Louis De Bernieres, and Margaret Drabble in conversation with Wendy Erskine – all in a city with a rich literary heartbeat. Like Winchester, perfect for clients who want to stand out in a city that truly values literature.

Belfast Book Festival

Edinburgh International Book Festival, expected 15–30 August

Running alongside the main festival, it’s one of the planet’s biggest literary bashes, pulling in writers, poets, thinkers, and politicians from all over. Add in the Global Ink initiative attracting festival directors and industry insiders, and you’ve got a seriously international stage. 2026 line-up isn’t out yet, but previous years have hosted Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh, Nicola Sturgeon, Alice Oseman, Malorie Blackman, Caitlin Moran, Salman Rushdie, and Anthony Horowitz. A hugely powerful platform.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival

Henley Literary Festival, 3-11 October

Set in the idyllic riverside Henley-on-Thames, this programme of talks, readings, performances, and workshops comes with a relaxed, approachable vibe. Established in 2007, the festival has since grown into one of the UK’s most popular autumn literary events, with a broad mix of authors, cultural figures, and commentators. Recent festivals have featured everyone from Dame Joanna Lumley and Elizabeth Day to Simon Armitage, Esther Freud, Dame Denise Lewis, and Raymond Blanc.

Henley Literary Festival

Cheltenham Literature Festival: 9-18 October

The OG of UK literary festivals, Cheltenham has been pulling in the big names since 1949. Across 10 days, the town centre transforms into a buzzing hive of talks, debates, workshops, and performances. Previous editions have boasted the likes of Hillary Clinton in 2017 on her memoir What Happened, her 2016 election loss and the role of sexism and double standards in politics, to Hilary Mantel dissecting historical fiction – and on its 75th anniversary, its president Dame Judi Dench joined in the fun. Expect a similarly eclectic mix this year.

Cheltenham Literature Festival

Ali Catterall is an award-winning writer, journalist and filmmaker whose writing has featured in the Guardian, Time Out, GQ, Film4, Word magazine and the Big Issue, among many others. Ali is also the writer and director of the 2023 film Scala!!!