Free Activities In The Festival Village
The Woodland Trust Wild Wood Visit the Woodland Trust hut for games, activities and more, or take part in one of the many fun events for all the family. For more information and a detailed schedule visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature
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Parabola Arts Centre, Hotel du Vin, Town Hall, No.131, Queens Hotel, The Centaur, Lit Crawl ...around town
5–6 & 12–13 October, 10am–4pm
The Hive
The Woodland Trust Wild Wood
VIP Lounge
Buggy Park
Woodland Trust
in association with Cunard
The Nook
John Lewis & Partners Trail Tent
Drinking Water The Inkpot
The Times and The Sunday Times Forum
Feast Café Waterstones Bookshop
Waterstones Children’s Bookshop
The Huddle The Huddle Festival Bar
The Den Box Main Entrance
First Aid
The Bookstand
The Sky Arts Studio
Drinking Water
Street Food Picnic Area a
Playground Skate Park
11am, 12pm, 1pm & 2.30pm
The Gardens ardens Ga Gallery
MONTPELLIER TERRACE
Storytelling Sessions
5–6 & 12–13 October
The Times & The Sunday Times
Saturday 5 October
Pirate Pandemonium Argh me hearties! Welcome aboard our storytelling ship. Can you help the Louby Lou crew and prove yourself to be a true pirate? Sunday 6 October
Posting A Story Explore a magical posting world with storyteller Lucy Walters where the letters from storybook characters are sorted and sent. Look out for the fairy tale post box! Saturday 12 October
Mysterious Stories Experience the ancient and mysterious tale of a magical hill just north of Birmingham and a wizard who can never die with storyteller Vanessa Woolf. Sunday 13 October
Doggy Doodles Come along for doggy drawing sessions with author and illustrator Shoo Rayner. You could even bring along your pooches to use as models!
4–13 October 2019
Pick up your FREE copy of The Times and The Sunday Times each weekend from various locations across the Festival site.
Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com #cheltlitfest
10.30am, 12pm, 1.30pm & 3pm
Circus Skills The Huddle
Roll up, roll up and have a go at juggling, spinning plates, diablos and more with our epic family entertainers!
Character Meet And Greet Meet favourite book characters Kipper, Maisy Mouse, Elmer and more.
10.30am, 12.30pm & 1.30pm
We’re Going On A Bear Hunt Go on an adventure with actor Sophia Lanciano through grass, forests, water, mud and snow to meet a big friendly bear.
Secret Seven Mystery Trail We’re celebrating 70 years of the world’s favourite detective club! Pick up a quiz sheet at the John Lewis & Partners Trail Tent and follow the trail around The Woodland Trust Wild Wood.
5–6 & 12–13 October, 10–10.30am
Family Draw-Along The Huddle A family-friendly, fun-filled draw-along for all ages with one of our fantastic Festival illustrators! Paper and pencils will be provided.
5–6 & 12–13 October, 4.30–5pm
Bedtime Story Sessions John Lewis & Partners Trail Tent Snuggle up for a cosy bedtime story with a special Festival guest. Names announced on the day.
The Secret Seven®, Enid Blyton® and Enid Blyton’s signature are registered trade marks of Hodder & Stoughton Limited, all rights reserved.
The Garden Theatre
4–13 October 2019
Join in with our free craft activities. Make a book cover to add to our library, create book creatures or join the Mad Hatter’s table to fashion a fabulous Festival hat.
Picnic Area
Box Office 01242 850270 cheltenhamfestivals.com #cheltlitfest
The Den
The Chatterbox
FREE EVENTS INSIDE
5–6 & 12–13 October 10am–4pm
...around town
For full details visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature
in association with Cheltenham BID
Welcome to The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival! On top of our packed programme of Festival events, there’s plenty more to discover for all ages in our Festival Village and across town – and all for FREE!
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Waterstones Children’s Bookshop Especially for the Festival’s younger visitors, our Waterstones Children’s Bookshop invites you to discover and rediscover the works from all your favourite children’s writers and illustrators – meet your hero at a signing or be entertained at one of our regular storytimes.
Whether you’re after stimulating talks during the day or fancy great entertainment in the evening, you’ll find a host of free events in The Huddle in our Feast Café. Continue those thought-provoking discussions, test your knowledge with The Times crossword, enjoy locally sourced music or readings and join experts for concise and mind-expanding talks in our Very Short Introduction To… series.
The Bookstand Grab a book and get comfortable in our cosy outdoor lounge at the heart of the Festival Village. Swap some books, enjoy the morning paper and plan your day at the Festival.
Daily, 10am–4pm
The Chatterbox Pop in and become a secret agent, decoding mysterious messages. Create your own detective mask and then head out on a secret kindness mission.
Waterstones Bookshop With the very best selection of new books alongside classics and bestsellers, our Waterstones Bookshop is curated especially for this year’s Festival and the visiting writers. Browse the bookshelves, meet your favourite authors and celebrities and get your books signed.
FREE EVENTS INSIDE
The Sky Arts Studio As our new broadcast partner, Sky Arts will be broadcasting from the Festival across the week, with live coverage, interviews and events. Pop in to be part of the filming or take part in other creative activities.
Daily, 10am–6pm
Gardens Gallery The Gloucestershire Guild is showing an exciting and varied range of contemporary crafts throughout the Festival. All work will be for sale.
Artwork Credits Programme illustration © 2019 Origin Family illustration © 2019 Tim Hopgood Charity No. 251765
Guide To Free Activities
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5 The Stable
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The Wilson Mezzanine
Roll up to receive a highly comic lesson on Shakespeare, from unconventional educators Shirley Halse and Hosanna Starkey. A show for anyone who loves, hates or simply does not understand the bard.
5–6.15pm
7 The Old Courthouse
Space Aliens Ate My Story! 6 Cheltenham Library Spoken word cabaret mixing comedy and fairy tales for grown-ups. From elves to aliens, join Chloë of the Midnight Storytellers as she performs a convention-smashing set of fantastic unscripted stories – traditional, outrageous, original, otherworldly – in this Midnight Storytellers’ 20th anniversary touring show.
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…around town and Lit Crawl supporters:
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After-Party
Raise the Bar curate a foot-stompingly energetic finale of poetry and spoken word to round off the Crawl and set the floor for our riotous after-party.
8–9pm
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10.30pm–2am
Raise The Bar
With over half a million Instagram followers and a host of celebrity fans, Nikita Gill is the UK’s most followed poet. Tonight, she makes her Cheltenham debut to perform from Great Goddesses: blending stories of Athena, Medusa and Circe from Greek mythology with modern feminist magic to create empowering life lessons from myths and monsters. Supported by a poetry set from Hammer and Tongue’s Georgia Stride.
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The Rolling Stones entered 1969 as a successful blues band that had experimented with psychedelia but were returning to their rock’n’roll roots. By the end of 1969 they had released a stone cold classic, lost one of their founding members, played an era-defining concert at Hyde Park to half a million people and seen a fan stabbed to death at their concert in Altamont. Join music journalist Patrick Humphries for the story of this key year in the history of the band.
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Nikita Gill: Great Goddesses
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Poetry Trail
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Saili Katebe
6.30–7.30pm
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6.30–7.30pm
Often writing under the pen name ‘The Blissful Nomad’, Saili Katebe is a talented Chippenham-based poet, writer and spoken word artist who is making waves in the Bath and Bristol Poetry scene. Don’t miss this scratch performance of his upcoming solo show over some of the best coffee in town.
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12 Boston Tea Party Alternative Book Club is an unconventional book night where there is absolutely no required reading – somewhere between a comedy night and a book club. Join us for this pub quiz version of the club, with rounds including ‘Name the classic from this ridiculous plot description’ and ‘Book titles in emoji’. Come alone or bring a team.
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THE BOTTLE OF SAUCE
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The Runaways Improv perform improvised comedy, anytime, anywhere! Join them as they create a bookish show based on suggestions from you, the audience. Expect the unexpected…
5–6pm
Chicken House is known for publishing some of the best-known names in children’s fiction... and this is your chance to pitch your story to them! Aspiring writers will have five minutes to present their work to a Chicken House editor over a free drink. 24 slots are available and you can sign up in advance at cheltenhamfestivals.com/pitch. If all slots are booked, feel free to come along to chat to some of the Chicken House team and queue for any no-show spaces. 18+ only.
Alternative Book Club Pub Quiz
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The Runaways Improv Comedy
Burning Eye Books is proud to present three outstanding poets reading from their 2019 collections – Steve Larkin (Your Own Steve Larkin Poetry Adventure), Lydia Towsey (The English Disease) and Leilah Jane King (Midnight Picnics in Tehran).
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Burning Eye Books Showcase
Shakespeare 101
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5–6pm
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7.30–9pm
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Pitch And A Pint!
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Gre at N orw ood St
The Everyman Theatre and Cheltenham Poetry Festival have been working with people from P3 Charity (which helps socially excluded and vulnerable people to unlock their potential) to gain confidence via writing and performing poetry. Join them for a showcase of their writing about the events that have shaped their lives.
Pitch And A Pint!
TO BOOK A TABLE CALL US ON 01242 221 212
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MONTPELLIER GARDENS
4 The Sober Parrot
SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER, FROM 6.30PM
Join us and tuck in to a seasonal lunch or supper over the Literature Festival
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Montpellier Rotunda
Lives of Colour celebrate difference by giving a platform Qu for people from all ethnicities and social economic ee backgrounds to share their story. Join n them for a svibrant Rd showcase of music, spoken word and delicious East African food to fuel up for your night on the Crawl.
5–6pm
UNHEARD 2019: Voices From P3
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When the Festival Village winds down, the Festival Club fires up. Join us after hours at Hotel du Vin for music, conversation and late night literary revelry.
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Elmer And Friends Trail starting point
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IMPERIAL GARDENS
Mrs Peel Jazz perform lively arrangements of beautiful Latin and jazz standards, alongside Motown and soul music inspired by the likes of Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and Earth Wind and Fire – songs which encapsulate where poetry meets music. Join them for an intimate session of music and poetry over gin and tea.
Lives Of Colour
Regent Arcade
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6.30–9pm
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Neptune’s Fountain
Mrs Peel Jazz
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A brand new poetry trail: The Minds Of Our Generation has been created to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Festival. Readings from poets who appeared at the Festival over the last seven decades have been recreated across the streets of the town, echoing through the years long after their Festival is complete. The route follows locations within Cheltenham Paint Festival and will be available via a free app during the Festival.
3 Waterstones
7.30–8.30pm
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3 Cheltenham Waterstones Train Station 1 The Wilson Catch bestselling novelists in conversation, d performances of Instagram star-poets, literary tarot R WAC (Wilson Arts Collective) take over The Wilson’s er sessions, poetry on demand from The Versability Tatty Devine exhibition st for the night, featuring e Shop and lots of delicious food and drink as uc Freya Saleh’s reinvented literature workshop, a live o Waterstones launch their new café and event space Gl a Tatty inspired cocktail named B-Boy Battle and in style to Lit Crawlers! after a Belle & Sebastian song.
4–5 & 11–12 October, 10pm–1am
Festival Club @ Hotel du Vin
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Litwitchure is the literary tarot cabaretPand arabola R d consultancy by Fiona Lensvelt and Jennifer Cownie: readers of books and dabblers in the occult. Stop by for a five-minute tarot reading, perfect for those new to cartomancy.
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Poetry Trail: 1 – 7 The Minds Of Our Generation
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If the autumn weather has you yearning for sunnier climes, drop into Travelbag for an evening of free wine tasting and pop-up talks from the South Australian Tourism Commission. Sample first hand some of the best wines the destination has to offer and turn your holiday dreams into a reality with the help of Travelbag.
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WAC Takeover: Tatty Devine
The Hare & The Minotaur
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Various sessions from 6–9pm
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Drop in from 5–10pm
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Pop along to The One-Stop Story Shop with award-winning author Tracey Corderoy for stories, songs, craft and fun. Make your own starry Space-Chase scene to take home!
2019 marks 40 years since Angela Carter’s short story collection The Bloody Chamber was both published and awarded the Cheltenham Literature Festival Novel Prize. Join Moth Sanctuary Productions for a deliciously dark reading of its most famous story: The Company of Wolves.
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Join us for special birthday meet and greet sessions with storyteller Lucy Walters and Elmer the patchwork elephant before following the trail around town.
Hester’s Way Library
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Bus and Coach Station
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Regent Arcade
One-Stop Story Shop
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Storytelling With Elmer The Patchwork Elephant
Saturday 12 October, 11am–12pm
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Saturday 5 October, 11am–2pm
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In The Company Of Wolves
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Rolling performances from 5–8pm
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Elmer © David McKee 2019, published by Andersen Press.
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DROP-IN SESSIONS ACROSS THE NIGHT
What happened to the woman you were supposed to become? Anna Hope’s Expectation is a searching look at friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition and has been one of the biggest hit reads of the summer. Don’t miss her visit to Waterstones to H discuss it and sign AT copies.
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To celebrate 30 years of David McKee’s Elmer, ten primary schools from across the county have created their own friends for the much-loved patchwork elephant. Follow the trail around town to find their artwork in participating shops, cafés and libraries. For details visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/Elmer
Anna Hope: Expectation St Georges Rd
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We’re back to take over the streets of Cheltenham for a fast-paced evening of pop-up events and quirky literary happenings – all completely FREE!
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Pick up a trail sheet from our Starting Point in Regent Arcade
6.30–7.30pm
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New Cheltenham Poetry Festival are throwing a poetry S party to celebrate our 70th year! Join them for a night t of music and spoken word from Abdul-Ahad Patel, ‘The Bob Dylan of Rap’ Scott James, Slam Champ Lexi Legend, Ziggy Dicks, Josephine Lay and John Porter, plus open mic.
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Saturday 5 October, 5pm ‘til late
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Happy Birthday Cheltenham Literature Festival!
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7.30–10.30pm
in association with Cheltenham BID
Daily, 11am–3pm
Map: Maple Rock Design
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...around town
PHASE 3: FROM 7.30PM
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Discover FREE Activities And Events
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5 Mics are an acapella beatbox, hip-hop group made up of rappers JPDL and Griz-o, beatboxers TMS and Sheps, and singer Grove who bring an electrifying, adrenaline-fuelled performance that fuses soul, hip-hop, UKG, dancehall and more with potent rap and soulful melodies. Selextorhood DJs beats from the Birminghambased womxn and non-binary collective to keep you going late into the night.