News

The 2023 Festival starts on 27 October but on 4 July guests in a packed Cedars Hall enjoyed a foretaste of what lies ahead. Friends and supporters of the Festival were treated to a wonderfully inspiring conversation between Mariella Frostrup and Sarah LeFanu which covered a huge range of topics – from leaving school at […]

Somerset resident and one of the UK’s most recognised cultural critics, Mariella Frostrup is the natural choice to launch our 31st Festival! Having spent 20 years presenting Open Book on BBC Radio 4, she now helms a current affairs and culture show on @TimesRadio which airs at lunchtime on Monday to Thursday.  Mariella has also […]

As you can probably guess from Jo Shepherd’s comprehensive pictorial round-up of our 30th Anniversary Festival, it was a record-breaking event – and hugely welcome. Although we were proud of the fact that we kept the Festival going through the past two Covid-affected ‘lean years’, we were understandably saddened by the empty seats in Cedars […]

You’ve booked your tickets, double-checked the time your event/s will start and googled how best to get to Cedars Hall!What else is there? Will there be any Covid restrictions at the Festival? There are currently no special measures in place and no requirements regarding social distancing or mask-wearing. We want everyone to feel comfortable at […]

As Richard Manning, Festival Chairman, revealed first to a specially invited audience in Cedars Hall, the Festival will open with the magnificent actor Sheila Hancock talking about her Old Rage, and close with best-selling author Robert Harris on a thrilling hunt for the murderers of Charles I. Two more disparate books would be hard to find! […]

The beginning of July marks a few milestones in the run up to our 30th Anniversary Festival this October. First, the anticipation of our many competition entrants has begun to bite as our panels of readers begin the difficult task of identifying the poems, short stories and books for children which deserve to be shortlisted […]

The last festivals seem to have hurried by in a flash and here we are, before we know it, on the point of celebrating our 30th anniversary.  But before you make time for that splendid event, don’t forget the International Competitions are drawing to a close. They have been open since 1 April ( yes […]

The event is open exclusively to Friends and Sponsors of the Festival. To find out more about supporting the work of the Festival as a Friend or Sponsor, please go to the Support Us page.

The 29th Wells Festival of Literature has now ended and the team of volunteers who put it together are pausing for a well-earned rest. Described by Anil Seth, one of our most popular speakers this year, as ‘an absolute joy,’ the 29th Festival proved to be easily as enjoyable as the preceding 28. As always, […]

… it ends in November! Although the 2021 Festival officially ended on 23 October, it is still being watched online by fans from here, there and everywhere. But all good things must come to an end and our festival is no exception! From 26 November the recorded events will be taken off the website and […]