Shout it from the rooftops – BridLit is back!

After last year’s festival was cut short because of Covid restrictions, hopes are high that the 2021 festival will go ahead in full.

I hope so, because I’ve missed it.

Online festivals are all very well but nothing beats having that ticket in your hand. Knowing you’re all set to be enthralled and entertained by a top-notch literary speaker.

No-one does it quite like Bridport when it comes to literary festivals locally. The range of speakers is always brilliant and the venues superb.

This year is another such year, with Tanya coming up trumps yet again. I don’t know how she does it, but she always does.

So make a date in your diary for BridLit 2021, 7–13 November. It’s going to be a festival to remember.

Key speakers include Lord Sumption, Marina Wheeler, Emma Soames, Alan Johnson, Lord Hain and Christina Lamb.

General booking is from Monday 30 August but priority booking for Friends of Bridport Literary Festival is open for three weeks from Monday 9 August – Friday 27 August.  Tickets are available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre on 01308 424901.

A special day for friends, sponsors and donors is being held on Monday 20 September at Bridport Arts Centre. Three events are lined up: Lachlan Goudie telling The Story of Scottish Art at 11am, Tom Fort talking at 2.30pm about his book, Casting Shadows, the history of freshwater fishing in Britain, and, at 4.30pm, Andrew Ziminski on The Stonemason: a History of Building Britain.

Tickets for each Friends’ Day event are £12 or £30 for all three – Bridport TIC box office is now open for bookings.

To find out about becoming a Friend of Bridport Literary Festival, visit the ‘support us’ page on the website.