Cheltenham Literature Festival marks its 75th year
The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival ran from 4 to 13 October 2024, marking 75 years since it was founded in 1949.
The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival ran from 4 to 13 October 2024, its 75th anniversary year. Founded in 1949, it describes itself as the world's longest-running literature festival.
The programme listed more than 400 events over ten days. The guest curators were Ann Morgan, Danielle Jawando, Joelle Taylor, Rónán Hession and Virginia Nicholson. Anniversary strands looked back at books published since 1949, including George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate, and a Future 75 event asked what the next 75 years might hold.
Alongside fiction and poetry, the festival covered current affairs, history, science, food, sport and travel, with a family and schools programme. The organisers said at least a quarter of the programme was free to attend, including drop-in events in its smaller venues.
Festivals of this size are an important shop window for new books, but the events that sell out are mostly by authors who already have an audience. The free and debut strands are where less established writers tend to appear, and they are worth a look for anyone trying to understand how festival programming works and how authors come to be booked.
Source: Cheltenham Festivals: 2024 full programme announcement.