Bath Children’s Literature Festival enjoys success as this year's edition continues

Bath Children's Literature Festival has enjoyed a successful opening weekend as the event continues throughout this week until Sunday 2 October. 

The festival's opening weekend saw venues filled with excited children and the Green Room in the historic Guildhall buzzing as authors and illustrators came and went, chatting and posing for photos with each other. Among those authors visiting were David Baddiel, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Dermot O’Leary, Steven Lenton, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Cerrie Burnell, Steven Butler and Michael Rosen.

The storytelling magic continues throughout this week as hundreds of schoolchildren come to Bath to attend live events. Many of these young people will have missed out on experiences like this because of the pandemic. Thanks to donations and sponsors, free places were given to schools where needed.

Image: Schoolchildren at Bath Children's Literature Festival 2022 

This weekend, the festival will be drawing along with Rob Biddulph, hearing about dinosaurs, laughing like hyenas with Julian Clary and enjoying the power of words with the new Waterstones Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho. There will be events for pre-school children, plenty for middle-grade readers and a full programme for YA (Young Adult) fans. Comedians Rosie Jones and Richard Ayoade will introduce their books for children, and creator of the smash hit Heartstopper series, Alice Oseman, will also be in town. 

Alice’s event sold out very quickly, but visitors can become Bath Festivals members to take advantage of priority booking for future festivals.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://bathfestivals.org.uk/childrens-literature/whats-on/. 

In addition to the above, on Sunday 2 October, The American Museum and Gardens at Claverton will open for free all day as part of the Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Visitors can experience a dinosaur exhibition and take part in a series of family-friendly activities.