High Sheriff award

Wells Festival of Literature has been granted the High Sheriff of Somerset award for its “great and valuable services to the community”.

Janet Montgomery, who is the current High Sheriff of Somerset, presented the award to Festival chairman Richard Manning earlier this month, saying: “The Festival is a real gem of Somerset and you are doing the most fantastic job.

“The focus for my own year in office is law and order, and championing voluntary organisations working with young people, so I wanted to say thank you as High Sheriff of Somerset, and to present this award in recognition of the work you are doing.”

The Festival is the largest volunteer-run literary festival in the country, and this is the first award it has received for its charitable work in local schools.

To be honoured by the High Sheriff’s award gives double cause to celebrate as 2025 has been the most successful in the Festival’s 33 years. It attracted top authors from the worlds of publishing and television and hosted a total of 9,000 visitors across the nine-day event in October.

Ticket sales were higher than ever, which will allow the Festival to provide even more year-round projects in local schools, funding author visits, theatre outings and books for school libraries.