I started a literary festival How Anne de Courcy brought Bibury to book

It all began at a garden party on a summer evening in 2018. Guests were strolling over the lawns or chatting in groups when I spotted my friend Victoria Summerley sitting behind a pile of her books.

Victoria runs Bibury’s Gardening Club and our host had rightly thought her beautiful books on Cotswold gardens would embellish the evening.

I think both of us may have had the idea, but it was certainly Victoria who said, ‘Why don’t we have a Literary Festival here in Bibury?’ In the slanting sunshine, with the sound of classical music drifting softly from some far corner and a glass of champagne in our hands, anything seemed possible.

Days later, we met to hash out the first steps for a 2019 festival. The first essential was to get Bibury’s vicar, Tim HastieSmith, involved. Apart from his sharp intelligence, vast network of friends and unrivalled gift for getting people to help, Bibury church was the obvious venue.

This beautiful building, dating back to Norman times, is the only place in the village large enough for the number we hoped would come.

Like most public buildings, it has public liability insurance, which meant one expense we didn’t have to think about.

Above all, we agreed, our festival had to be fun – for the writers, for the audience and for us. It would be biennial, to keep people’s interest up and we needed a committee.

This had to be as small as possible - the larger a committee, the more likely it is to include professional naysayers and those who want to hear their own voice.

We planned on five members –an odd number because that avoids deadlock. Our immediate choice was Jackie Colburn, former actress and a living exemplar of the maxim ‘If you want to get things done, ask a busy person’.

We soon co-opted Michelle Holt, an expert publicist, who set up a website for us and designed and organised posters and leaflets.

Monthly committee meetings were held in the sitting room of my cottage in the next village, over glasses of wine and quails’ eggs – a particular favourite of the vicar’s.

Everything was done on a shoestring and through generous donors – our garden party hosts, Sir Christopher and Lady Evans, gave us £600, matched, by the Bibury Parish Council. This covered the £25 cost of the website, the £78 bill for the printing and the hiring of Portaloos for £250.

The WI provided wonderful cakes, hot soup and Ploughman’s lunches for our visitors. Food and answer questions from the visitors, and give directions.

Mike Pini, set up the projector and sound system. Another great thing about villages is that if you don’t know the right expert, someone can always tell you someone who does.

As for the authors themselves, the most important thing, we said that although we couldn’t afford to pay them, we would do our best to see they had a good time. On the last evening, my son gave a splendid writers’ dinner party; plenty of people wanted to have them to stay Getting publicity for our festival was key. We left flyers in nearby pubs, hotels, and book stores and contacted local media. Tickets began to sell steadily.

As Festival Day drew nearer, there was the inevitable last-minute flurry of nerves and difficulties.

One writer cancelled because of illness. Another said she suffered so badly from stage fright that she had to lie down before her ‘turn’ and we had to improvise a makeshift bed.

After dreaming all night that no one would turn up, I drove nervously to Bibury on the day to see people pouring in.

Cake and sales: for a fine book festival drink for the writers in their Green Room (a small room with nearby loo above Bibury school, forty yards from the church) cost £50, in addition to the quiches and salads we provided.

Through Tim, we were given wine for the drinks party we planned for the audience at the end of the day. Although you need a licence to sell alcohol, it is perfectly legal to offer a free glass of wine with a ticket.

We kept the cost of tickets low£35 for the whole day – so that the audience would have more money to spend on books. Volunteers flocked to help us. In any British village, there is a vast reservoir of goodwill and, usually, people with a bit of spare time on their hands who enjoy helping others.

These wonderful people helped serve lunch, look after authors,

There was a proud Michael Howard watching his wife Sandra, as she described her glittering Hollywood life. Angela Levin, in a foretaste of Megxit, told us how Prince Harry had said to her, ‘I don’t think anyone would choose to be born a prince.’ Pretty crimewriter Jane Corry held everyone spellbound with her description of life as a writer-in-residence at one of HM’s prisons for serious offenders: ‘After that first day, I knew never to wear a skirt again.’

Was it all worth it? Absolutely – if only for the number of people who came up to us afterwards, asking, ‘When is the next one?’

The pandemic put a a stop to it. We relaunched again last year and – in case you are asking – our next will be in spring 2024.

For more information, go to www.biburyfestivals.com