The Illminster Literary Festival Committee wish to thank Martin Bell OBE, Fay Weldon CBE, Chris Mullin, Laurie Graham, Daisy Waugh, Alastair Sawday, Georgie Newbery, Robert Parry, Stephen Moss, Philip Wilkinson, Graham Lloyd ,Rob Barratt, and all our other guests and helpers for their hard work in making 2018 such a great Festival.
The 2019 Festival Committee have begun planning already for the 2019 Festival.Watch this space for further details.Details will be posted on our website shortly.
History of the Festival.
The Ilminster Literary Festival was set up to offer local people of all ages in Ilminster and the surrounding areas an exciting and enjoyable opportunity to meet a variety of authors, editors, and script writers through discussion, talks and meetings, at affordable prices.
The Ilminster Literary Festival is now a Registered Charity No 1169618
The Festival is now run by a group of 7 trustees, and a Management Operations committee of around 5 volunteers. No one is paid a salary or wage.
The first Festival ran from the 1st to 9th of June 2016 in a variety of locations in Ilminster and surrounding villages with the emphasis being on local authors. Our second Festival was equally as successful and varied and became an annual event. Our third festival was launched at a Book Fair in April, followed soon after by a Quiz Night on May 11th. The 2018 Festival started on 30th May with 20 plus varied and interesting events, finishing with a one act play with supper on Friday 8th June.
The Festivals have been well supported by local people, businesses, the Library, Friends or Sponsors, and by generous donations from Ilminster Town Council, SSDC, the Gooch Charitable Trust, Ilminster Education Foundation, and Tesco Stores. All of these contributions have enabled the Festival to build year on year, with well known speakers appearing from across the UK and even further.
