The 27th Wells Festival of Literature opened yesterday evening with a packed audience at a sell-out event – Diarmaid MacCulloch’s fascinating revelations about Thomas Cromwell. Following the life of Cromwell, we were treated to the life of Johnny Normal, brought to us by his dad Henry. This brilliant and inspirational talk about life with an…

We are sorry to report that Peter Hennessy, who was due to speak at a Literary Lunch on Friday 25 October, has had to pull out of the Festival for health reasons. Lord Hennessy was due to discuss his book Winds of Change with Festival Patron William Waldegrave and we are very grateful to Lord…

Our 29th Festival will be jam-packed with appetising events – including a mouth-watering discussion between Felicity Cloake and Caroline Waldegrave at 10.30am on Saturday 26 October: One more Croissant for the Road. Other appetising attractions include our Literary Lunches which take place in the Dining Hall, a short stroll across from Cedars Hall. The speaker…

We are sorry to report that Kamal Ahmed, who was due to speak in Wells on Saturday 19 October at 7.30pm, has had to pull out of the Festival for personal reasons. In his place we are delighted to have engaged Steve Richards the popular TV presenter and political columnist who regularly presents The Week…

Ticket sales for the forthcoming Festival are selling fast with Chris Patten’s First Confession now sold out and several other events looking set to reach sell-out point before long. The grand finale featuring Roger McGough and Little Machine already has limited tickets left, and the signs are Kate Humble will be in that position soon.…

Tickets for Chris Patten’s First Confession on Saturday 26 October at 2 pm have now sold out, with further events looking set to follow. Which one will sell out next? No one knows for sure; there are several contenders. Here’s a small sample of the huge variety of topics on offer during the Festival: Finding…

Last week we held the very first event of 2019 – a magnificent occasion in Cedars Hall on 15 July which marked our gratitude to all our Friends, sponsors and supporters. Without their generosity, the Festival would be unable to provide the educational support to over 40 local schools which is so much a feature…

As competition entries zoom in from all corners of the globe towards the smallest city in England, it’s time to warn potential competitors that the gate will shortly be closing… All our 2019 competitions end at midnight on 30 June – so you still have some time to get creative. But please don’t wait too…

Even before this year’s Festival events are all confirmed, we can guarantee that it will feature a fantastic finale – an event quite unlike anything we have ever staged before. The legendary Liverpool poet Roger McGough will join forces with a toe-tapping trio of musicians known as LiTTLe MACHiNe (all are pictured here in a…

Congratulations to this year’s poetry judge for his recent elevation: It was announced on 10 May 2019 that Her Majesty The Queen ‘has been pleased to approve the appointment of Simon Armitage as the next Poet Laureate for a fixed-term of ten years’. We are delighted with this news and wish Simon all the very…