WORSHIPPERS of words can look forward to the imminent return of a cultural festival that celebrates literature, poetry and song in all its forms.
Evesham Festival of Words kicks off on Friday, 21 March and promises a diverse programme of events through the summer to November that will appeal to all literary tastes with its eclectic blend of speakers and performers.
With a focus around a main festival weekend in June, the 2025 festival features a range of topics from the lost women of Shakespeare to the great train robbery.
Kath Ryan known at the cake lady’.
For those who are a bit more active, a summertime walk in Bredon or a 20-mile bike ride learning about the area’s connections to writers such as JRR Tolkien and William Morris will have appeal.
Since its start in 2016, the festival has built up a keen audience of returning regulars as well as attracting newcomers to the town.
Festival chair Sue Ablett explains: “It’s gone from strength to strength. We started the first year with just a weekend and by the next year we’d got more ideas and were approached by people who wanted to take part.
“It’s a fun thing to do – we have great engagement from the town and the feedback we get from audiences and speakers is just fantastic.”
She is keen to emphasise the difference between it and a traditional literary festival. “We offer a broad choice of events and deliberately call it a ‘festival of words’ as opposed to a ‘literary festival’.
“We are not just about authors selling books – we have talks on all manner of topics.”
This year’s main festival weekend highlights include talks by Ariel Bruce, the lead researcher on ITV’s Long Lost Family, and wildlife photographer and filmmaker Doug Allan who has contributed to several notable BBC natural history series such as The Blue Planet.
Doug Allan with a colony of Emperor penguins.
At Easter there is the opportunity to enjoy a classic afternoon cream tea at Raphael’s restaurant in the company of Kath Ryan ‘the cake lady’ who bakes cakes for injured veterans and on hugging terms with Prince Harry.
Sue and her voluntary team of committed logophiles are dedicated to ensuring that there is plenty to whet the appetite for words with 32 individual events that take place in and around Evesham over the nine months.
“The joy for us in having a festival that goes on all through the year is if we have a speaker in mind who can’t do the main weekend we can slot them in another time,” she explained.
An avid reader, Sue said it was a ‘passion for all things word’ that keeps her going. “I just love it,” she added.
Visit the new website eveshamfestivalofwords.org for online ticket sales or to download this year’s festival programme.
