The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival
10 - 19 October 2008

Sponsorship Launch

We had our very first look at what may be in store at this year's Literature Festival at our sponsorship launch on Tuesday.

Festival Director Sarah Smyth introduced a programme which will this year explore the theme of family - how does the family shape who we are, how we see the world, how we live, how we read and how we write? She also hinted at some of this year's headlining acts who will be lead by Guest Directors Kate Adie and Ian Rankin.

Just a few of the names we hope to welcome in October include Sir Roger Moore, Antony Sher and Rick Stein.

All names are very much still to be confirmed - but it looks like it will be the biggest festival yet. Full programme and booking will be available in early August so keep checking here for the latest news.

Literary legends, comedy geniuses and shining stars...

The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2007 has enjoyed unprecedented success with over 87,000 tickets sold for the ten day event. Over 400 writers have flocked to Cheltenham to take part in the biggest and most varied programme to date.

Everyday saw a host of literary stars take to the Cheltenham stage. The fantastic Armando Iannucci programmed an impressive opening weekend with surprise appearances from David Mitchell and Chris Morris offering a unique festival experience. Whilst the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse saw sell-out crowds enjoy Michael Palin, Ian Hislop and The Times Debate, and Helen Mirren added some star-studded glamour. Yann Martel, Ian McEwan and Robert Harris were just some of the literary legends to be seen.

Artistic Director Sarah Smyth is thrilled with the Festival's success;

'2007 has been a hugely successful year, with audience figures up by 10,000 since last year, and one of the largest number of authors we've ever welcomed to the Festival - greatly helped by our increased use of one of Britain's largest literature venues seating over 2,000 people. I'm especially delighted with the sheer range of events this year - from the substantial growth of our children's festival Book It! to our special Festival commissions, this year's Festival really did have something for everyone over ten packed days.'

The children's Festival Book it! was enjoyed by thousands of young literary lovers and the Festival fringe voices off took the festival out into the streets and unique venues around Cheltenham. With two fantastic family fun days and a bustling festival village this year's programme really did offer an exciting range of events for all to enjoy.

External links:
BBC Gloucestershire, About Gloucestershire
BBC Gloucestershire, Ten days