Ticket bookings for this year’s Word Festival are a massive 100% up on last year and organisers are working round the clock to keep up with demand.
Only two weeks after the release of the programme for the University of Aberdeen hosted event, organisers have already received thousands of bookings for events - well and truly establishing Aberdeen’s Book Festival as one of Scotland’s most popular literary events.
Bookings have soared right across the diverse programme and organisers are looking forward to the busiest Word Festival yet with over 10,000 people expected to take part in events.
Richard E Grant’s event at the Belmont cinema was the first to book out, breaking records at the cinema for advance bookings. Tickets have also been snapped up for
An Audience with Liz Smith – the much-loved actress from the Royle Family.
More literary events are also proving popular with Alain de Botton and Marina Lewycka’s event at capacity. Scots authors have also been a hit with Aberdeen audiences with tickets for a Doric event with Sheena Blackhall and Isobel Murray’s Scottish Writers Talking event proving similarly popular.
Organisers are urging those who would like to attend to book quickly for the remaining events to avoid disappointment.
Limited tickets are still available for a number of big name author events including:
Hilary Mantel & Kirsty Gunn – One of the UK’s finest novelists, Hilary Mantel will be reading from her Orange Short-listed Beyond Black while Kirsty Gunn will be previewing her hotly anticipated new novel The Boy and The Sea.
Tales from the Vinyl Café with Stuart MacLean – one of Canadia’s most loved broadcaster’s whose weekly radio show brings in nearly 1,000,000 listeners.
The North Event with Simon Armitage, Peter Davidson and Joanna Kavenna – A Word Festival exclusive – three award-winning writers will lead this fascinating event on the subject of the North and what it means to them.
Elly Rothnie, Festival Producer, said: “We’re really excited about how popular this year’s programme has proved - bookings have really gone through the roof! The festival has been growing rapidly for the last few years and preparations are underway for the biggest literary event the North-east has ever seen. There are still limited tickets available for some wonderful Word events – so get booking!”
Tickets and full programme information are available online at www.abdn.ac.uk/word