Top Ten Tuesday: Book Festivals I’d Love to Go to Someday

Hello dear readers! A bit late with my post for today’s TTT, but hey ho it’s because I was reading! I’m participating in The Reading Rush readathon, so posts may come in slower/later in the day this week. This week’s topic is Book Festivals I’d Love to Go to Someday, and my answer is all. I live in a miserable country where nothing ever happens (Serbia). Actually, we have the yearly Book Fair, and it really is huge, but I also have a huge problem with the number of foreign authors they bring in, which is usually one per year, and so far no one I really like. *pathetic sounds of jealousy*

I really want to go to many, many cool festivals around the world, but I’ve compiled a list of ten English speaking festivals. Why? Because it is a custom for festivals to gather the local publishers, who usually have books in the local language. And I can read fluently in Serbian and English only so far.

1. Agatha Christie Festival, Torquay, UK, September

It’s no secret my goal in life is to live out my own murder mystery, and this event is the closest to a live Christie mystery atmosphere it can get. Torquay is Christie’s hometown, extensively featured in her novels, and the festival celebrates her birthday in September. Featuring tea parties, theatre, and dinners on steam trains, this event is made for us book geeks.

2. Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts, Wales, May

Not considering the fact I really, really want to visit Wales, I’ve heard from my British people that this is an excellent festival. It is held in Hay-on-Wye, which is nicknamed ‘the town of books’. The town itself is small but holds an envious amount of bookshops, and if that weren’t enough, the festival brings in a 1/4 of a million of book lovers and writers.

3. Words by the Water Festival, Cumbria, UK, March

Another fine British festival, this one held in the lovely Cumbria county, in the nature by a lake, packing ten days full of workshops, contests, launches, exhibitions and talks with numerous authors. Sounds nice and intimate.

4. Sydney Writers Festival, Australia, May

This would be a great chance to check out Australian authors, besides the other, international best-selling authors they bring in. And it’s in Sydney, yay! Over a whole week, they offer over 300 literary events!

5. Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate, July

Besides being an ultimate crime-lover’s paradise, this festival also hosts an award ceremony for the UK crime novel of the year. For both modern thriller lovers, and the Agatha Christie fans, Theakstons Old Peculier has something for everyone in the three days it lasts.

6. Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scotland, August

Like I need yet another reason to visit Scotland! This is a huge festival, boasting over 750 events over 15 days and 900 authors! Mainly focused on literature, this festival offers art and music events too, and brings in interesting celebrities.

7. Book Expo, NYC, USA, May

Of course the central book event attracts the most famous authors, and if I could choose only one US book festival I would pick Book Expo. This would be a good chance to meet some USA authors who aren’t that likely to tour Europe.

8. Wigtown Book Festival, Scotland, September

Another festival in Scotland, and it’s just because it’s in Scotland. You don’t like it? Come at me bro. Also, it’s set in the countryside, it’s Scotland’s national book town, the town is filled with second hand bookshops, and it lasts ten days with over 175 bookish events. Sign me up.

9. Brooklyn Book Festival, USA, October

One more cool US festival. It’s free, a bit more fancy version of book expo, with parties, film screenings and literary celebrities. Over 300 authors attend, and there’s a special day for children’s literature.

10. Cymera Festival, Scotland, June

Cymera is the Scottish festival of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writing, so it’s the niche festival for us spec fiction geeks. Out of all the festivals on this list, I think this is the most possible one for me to visit in this lifetime, so I’ll add it as a personal goal.