A NEW festival is being launched in Frome next month – Frome Lit Fest – which will appeal to book lovers of all ages! But you don’t have to be a book worm to enjoy the wide range of events on offer.
Hot on the heels of the town’s famous Frome Festival, deemed this year as a huge success, the popular Frome Children’s Festival will also be held, on Sunday 21st August, for the first time since 2019, when a certain world event halted everyone’s Festival fun.
Organisers, Purple Elephant, say that this year there will be extra facility for those with disabilities and additional needs to have full access to the event.
Then next month, from Friday 16th to Friday 23rd September, the town’s newest Festival, Frome Lit Fest, is described as positively bubbling over with big ideas, big dreams, big journeys, and simply brilliant books. Which all goes to show that Frome really does love a Festival!
Events over eight days
Organisers of Frome Lit Fest say, “For a town with a reputation for hosting amazing literary events, workshops, and book-related activities, Frome has long been overdue its very own dedicated literary festival. Well, now the wait is over!”
Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books have teamed up with festival directors, John and Gill McLay, (famous for setting up Bath Children’s Literature Festival) to create an exciting programme of events across the eight days of the festival – with most events taking place in the Merlin Theatre and Frome Town Hall.
Fun, vibrant and slightly off-beat programme
Tina Gaisford-Waller of Hunting Raven says, “We will go beyond the book to explore the things that we know fascinate you: nature, art, amazing true-life stories, and the issues of our time – with lashings of escapism, fantasy and fun thrown in for good measure. We wanted to create a fun, vibrant, inclusive and slightly off-beat programme truly fit for Frome.
“Whether that’s running away with the circus on a culinary adventure (Giffords Circus Cookbook) or being carried through the mists of time on a magical journey through ancient Britain (Amy Jeffs’ Storyland); Being swept to the Jurassic coast where the waves of war crash upon the shore (Joanna Quinn’s Sunday Times bestselling The Whalebone Theatre) or pottering gently through a beautifully scented garden (with former Sunday Times gardening editor, Caroline Donald); Getting your political-thriller fix (with former-MP-turned-author, Alan Johnson) or tasting cider and cheese (with food writers James Crowden and Ned Palmer). We think we’ve got a little something for everyone…”
Kids’ weekend
“There is also a dedicated kids’ weekend. Bring your graphic-novel-crazy kids to our Phoenix Comics’ workshop with Mega Robo Bros author and illustrator Neill Cameron; Get a dose of the Horrible Histories with illustrator Martin Brown; Bring your tinies to an interactive fun-filled family show with picture book author Kristina Stephenson and her brilliantly bonkers book The Museum of Marvellous Things; And get closer to nature with your mini-Attenboroughs with Ben Hoare’s Discover Nature’s Treasures.”
The full programme can be viewed and downloaded from www.fromelitfest.com and booking will open very soon. Alternatively, you can visit the Merlin Theatre website, which has details of all Frome Lit Fest events (both those at the Merlin and at other venues).
Once booking opens, tickets can also be booked by calling the Merlin Theatre box office on 01373 465949 from 10am-12pm Monday to Friday. Brochures with full details of all the events will be available to pick up from most cafes, restaurants and other shops in and around the town, including of course at Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books on Cheap Street. Tickets are typically £10 for adult events and £5 a ticket for children’s events.
Tina adds, “The festival is completely volunteer-run as a not-for-profit enterprise. Any profit generated by this year’s festival will go straight back into building next year’s festival. We are still seeking support and sponsors both in the short- and long-term. We would love to hear from anyone who might like to volunteer to help us! If you would like to support us, contact us at fromelitfest@gmail.com or give us a call on 01373 473111.
“We really look forward to seeing you there!”
