Guide To Free Activities

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WaterstonesBookshop

The Times and The Sunday Times

ForumFeast Café

The Huddle

Drinking Water

VIP Loungein association with Cunard

The Hive

The Nook

The Inkpot

The Woodland TrustWild Wood

The Den

The GardenTheatre

Picnic Area

The Bookstand

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The Gardens Gallery

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Waterstones Children’s Bookshop

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Buggy Park

John Lewis &Partners Trail Tent

The Sky Arts Studio

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MONTPELLIER SPA ROAD

MO

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PE

LL

IER

WA

LK

WaterstonesBookshop

The Times and The Sunday Times

ForumFeast Café

The Huddle

Drinking Water

VIP Loungein association with Cunard

The Hive

The Nook

The Inkpot

The Woodland TrustWild Wood

The Den

The GardenTheatre

Picnic Area

The Bookstand

Box

The Gardens Gallery

MainEntrance

Waterstones Children’s Bookshop

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ardens Ga

Festival Bar

StreetFood

Drinking Water

Free Activities In The Festival VillageWelcome to The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival! On top of our packed programme of Festival events, there’s plenty more to discover for all ages in our Festival Village and across town – and all for FREE!

For full details visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature

FREE EVENTS INSIDE

Artwork CreditsProgramme illustration © 2019 Origin

Family illustration © 2019 Tim Hopgood

Charity No. 251765

5–6 & 12–13 October 10am–4pm

The DenJoin in with our free craft activities.Make a book cover to add to our library, create book creatures or join the Mad Hatter’s table to fashion a fabulous Festival hat.

5–6 & 12–13 October, 4.30–5pm

Bedtime Story SessionsJohn Lewis & Partners Trail Tent

Snuggle up for a cosy bedtime story with a special Festival guest. Names announced on the day.

Daily, 10am–4pm

The Chatterbox Pop in and become a secret agent, decoding mysterious messages. Create your own detective mask and then head out on a secret kindness mission.

5–6 & 12–13 October

The Times & The Sunday Times Pick up your FREE copy of The Times and The Sunday Times each weekend from various locations across the Festival site.

Daily, 10am–6pm

Gardens Gallery The Gloucestershire Guild is showing an exciting and varied range of contemporary crafts throughout the Festival. All work will be for sale.

The BookstandGrab a book and get comfortable in our cosy outdoor lounge at the heart of the Festival Village. Swap some books, enjoy the morning paper and plan your day at the Festival.

The HuddleWhether you’re after stimulating talks during the day or fancy great entertainment in the evening, you’ll find a host of free events in The Huddle in our Feast Café. Continue those thought-provoking discussions, test your knowledge with The Times crossword, enjoy locally sourced music or readings and join experts for concise and mind-expanding talks in our Very Short Introduction To… series.

The Sky Arts StudioAs our new broadcast partner, Sky Arts will be broadcasting from the Festival across the week, with live coverage, interviews and events. Pop in to be part of the filming or take part in other creative activities.

5–6 & 12–13 October, 10am–4pm

The Woodland Trust Wild WoodVisit the Woodland Trust hut for games, activities and more, or take part in one of the many fun events for all the family.

For more information and a detailed schedule visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature

Character Meet And GreetMeet favourite book characters Kipper, Maisy Mouse, Elmer and more.

10.30am, 12.30pm & 1.30pm

We’re Going On A Bear HuntGo on an adventure with actor Sophia Lanciano through grass, forests, water, mud and snow to meet a big friendly bear.

10.30am, 12pm, 1.30pm & 3pm

Circus SkillsRoll up, roll up and have a go at juggling, spinning plates, diablos and more with our epic family entertainers!

Waterstones BookshopWith the very best selection of new books alongside classics and bestsellers, our Waterstones Bookshop is curated especially for this year’s Festival and the visiting writers. Browse the bookshelves, meet your favourite authors and celebrities and get your books signed.

4–13 October 2019Box Office 01242 850270cheltenhamfestivals.com#cheltlitfest

...around town in association with Cheltenham BID

4–13 October 2019Box Office 01242 850270cheltenhamfestivals.com#cheltlitfest

FREE EVENTS INSIDE

11am, 12pm, 1pm & 2.30pm

Storytelling SessionsSaturday 5 October

Pirate PandemoniumArgh me hearties! Welcome aboard our storytelling ship. Can you help the Louby Lou crew and prove yourself to be a true pirate?

Sunday 6 October

Posting A StoryExplore a magical posting world with storyteller Lucy Walters where the letters from storybook characters are sorted and sent. Look out for the fairy tale post box!

Saturday 12 October

Mysterious StoriesExperience the ancient and mysterious tale of a magical hill just north of Birmingham and a wizard who can never die with storyteller Vanessa Woolf.

Sunday 13 October

Doggy DoodlesCome along for doggy drawing sessions with author and illustrator Shoo Rayner. You could even bring along your pooches to use as models!

Secret Seven Mystery Trail We’re celebrating 70 years of the world’s favourite detective club! Pick up a quiz sheet at the John Lewis & Partners Trail Tent and follow the trail around The Woodland Trust Wild Wood.

The Secret Seven®, Enid Blyton® and Enid Blyton’s signature are registered trade marks of Hodder & Stoughton Limited, all rights reserved.

Waterstones Children’s Bookshop Especially for the Festival’s younger visitors, our Waterstones Children’s Bookshop invites you to discover and rediscover the works from all your favourite children’s writers and illustrators – meet your hero at a signing or be entertained at one of our regular storytimes.

5–6 & 12–13 October, 10–10.30am

Family Draw-AlongThe Huddle

A family-friendly, fun-filled draw-along for all ages with one of our fantastic Festival illustrators! Paper and pencils will be provided.

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Swindon Rd

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MontpellierRotunda

The Brewery Quarter

RegentArcade

IMPERIALGARDENS

CheltenhamTrain Station

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Pittville Pump Room

Pittville Play Area

Bus and Coach Station

Neptune’sFountain

The Hare &The Minotaur

Town Hall

Cheltenham Racecourse

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway

The Centaur

MONTPELLIERGARDENS

HONEYBOURNE LINE CYCLE/FOOTPATH

KEY1 – 10 Elmer And Friends Trail

1 – 7 Poetry Trail

1 – 14 Lit Crawl

...around town in association with Cheltenham BID

Saturday 5 October, 5pm ‘til lateWe’re back to take over the streets of Cheltenham for a fast-paced evening of pop-up events and quirky literary happenings – all completely FREE!

PHASE 1: FROM 5PM

PHASE 2: FROM 6.30PM PHASE 3: FROM 7.30PM

DROP-IN SESSIONS ACROSS THE NIGHT

Discover FREE Activities And Events

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5–6pm

Burning Eye Books Showcase

5 The Stable

Burning Eye Books is proud to present three outstanding poets reading from their 2019 collections – Steve Larkin (Your Own Steve Larkin Poetry Adventure), Lydia Towsey (The English Disease) and Leilah Jane King (Midnight Picnics in Tehran).

5–6pm

Space Aliens Ate My Story!

6 Cheltenham Library

Spoken word cabaret mixing comedy and fairy tales for grown-ups. From elves to aliens, join Chloë of the Midnight Storytellers as she performs a convention-smashing set of fantastic unscripted stories – traditional, outrageous, original, otherworldly – in this Midnight Storytellers’ 20th anniversary touring show.

5–6pm

UNHEARD 2019: Voices From P3

4 The Sober Parrot

The Everyman Theatre and Cheltenham Poetry Festival have been working with people from P3 Charity (which helps socially excluded and vulnerable people to unlock their potential) to gain confidence via writing and performing poetry. Join them for a showcase of their writing about the events that have shaped their lives.

6.30–7.30pm

Rolling Stones: 19698 Badlands Records

The Rolling Stones entered 1969 as a successful blues band that had experimented with psychedelia but were returning to their rock’n’roll roots. By the end of 1969 they had released a stone cold classic, lost one of their founding members, played an era-defining concert at Hyde Park to half a million people and seen a fan stabbed to death at their concert in Altamont. Join music journalist Patrick Humphries for the story of this key year in the history of the band.

7.30–10.30pm

Happy Birthday Cheltenham Literature Festival!13 Smokey Joe’s

Cheltenham Poetry Festival are throwing a poetry party to celebrate our 70th year! Join them for a night of music and spoken word from Abdul-Ahad Patel, ‘The Bob Dylan of Rap’ Scott James, Slam Champ Lexi Legend, Ziggy Dicks, Josephine Lay and John Porter, plus open mic.

10.30pm–2am

After-Party

5 Mics are an acapella beatbox, hip-hop group made up of rappers JPDL and Griz-o, beatboxers TMS and Sheps, and singer Grove who bring an electrifying, adrenaline-fuelled performance that fuses soul, hip-hop, UKG, dancehall and more with potent rap and soulful melodies.

Selextorhood DJs beats from the Birmingham-based womxn and non-binary collective to keep you going late into the night.

7.30–8.30pm

Mrs Peel Jazz14 Memsahib Gin & Tea Bar

Mrs Peel Jazz perform lively arrangements of beautiful Latin and jazz standards, alongside Motown and soul music inspired by the likes of Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and Earth Wind and Fire – songs which encapsulate where poetry meets music. Join them for an intimate session of music and poetry over gin and tea.

6.30–8pm

Pitch And A Pint!9 The Tavern

Chicken House is known for publishing some of the best-known names in children’s fiction... and this is your chance to pitch your story to them! Aspiring writers will have five minutes to present their work to a Chicken House editor over a free drink. 24 slots are available and you can sign up in advance at cheltenhamfestivals.com/pitch. If all slots are booked, feel free to come along to chat to some of the Chicken House team and queue for any no-show spaces. 18+ only.

6.30–8.30pm

South Australia Wine Tasting10 Travelbag

If the autumn weather has you yearning for sunnier climes, drop into Travelbag for an evening of free wine tasting and pop-up talks from the South Australian Tourism Commission. Sample first hand some of the best wines the destination has to offer and turn your holiday dreams into a reality with the help of Travelbag.

6.30–7.30pm

Saili Katebe11 The Scandinavian Coffee Pod

Often writing under the pen name ‘The Blissful Nomad’, Saili Katebe is a talented Chippenham-based poet, writer and spoken word artist who is making waves in the Bath and Bristol Poetry scene. Don’t miss this scratch performance of his upcoming solo show over some of the best coffee in town.

Rolling performances from 5–8pm

In The Company Of Wolves2 Games Room, Bottle of Sauce

2019 marks 40 years since Angela Carter’s short story collection The Bloody Chamber was both published and awarded the Cheltenham Literature Festival Novel Prize. Join Moth Sanctuary Productions for a deliciously dark reading of its most famous story: The Company of Wolves.

Various sessions from 6–9pm

Waterstones Takeover3 Waterstones

Catch bestselling novelists in conversation, performances of Instagram star-poets, literary tarot sessions, poetry on demand from The Versability Shop and lots of delicious food and drink as Waterstones launch their new café and event space in style to Lit Crawlers!

5–6.15pm

The Runaways Improv Comedy

7 The Old Courthouse

The Runaways Improv perform improvised comedy, anytime, anywhere! Join them as they create a bookish show based on suggestions from you, the audience. Expect the unexpected…

Map: Maple Rock Design

…around town and Lit Crawl supporters:

Daily, 11am–3pm 1 – 10

Elmer And Friends TrailPick up a trail sheet from our Starting Point in Regent Arcade

To celebrate 30 years of David McKee’s Elmer, ten primary schools from across the county have created their own friends for the much-loved patchwork elephant. Follow the trail around town to find their artwork in participating shops, cafés and libraries. For details visit cheltenhamfestivals.com/Elmer

Elmer © David McKee 2019, published by Andersen Press.

Saturday 5 October, 11am–2pm

Storytelling With Elmer The Patchwork ElephantRegent Arcade

Join us for special birthday meet and greet sessions with storyteller Lucy Walters and Elmer the patchwork elephant before following the trail around town.

Saturday 12 October, 11am–12pm

One-Stop Story ShopHester’s Way Library Pop along to The One-Stop Story Shop with award-winning author Tracey Corderoy for stories, songs, craft and fun. Make your own starry Space-Chase scene to take home!

4–5 & 11–12 October, 10pm–1am

Festival Club @ Hotel du VinWhen the Festival Village winds down, the Festival Club fires up. Join us after hours at Hotel du Vin for music, conversation and late night literary revelry.

Poetry Trail: 1 – 7 The Minds Of Our GenerationA brand new poetry trail: The Minds Of Our Generation has been created to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Festival. Readings from poets who appeared at the Festival over the last seven decades have been recreated across the streets of the town, echoing through the years long after their Festival is complete. The route follows locations within Cheltenham Paint Festival and will be available via a free app during the Festival.

Drop in from 5–10pm

WAC Takeover: Tatty Devine

1 The Wilson

WAC (Wilson Arts Collective) take over The Wilson’s Tatty Devine exhibition for the night, featuring Freya Saleh’s reinvented literature workshop, a live B-Boy Battle and a Tatty inspired cocktail named after a Belle & Sebastian song.

THE BOTTLE OF SAUCE2 The Bottle of Sauce

PHASE 4: FROM 9PM UNTIL LATE

Elmer And Friends Trail starting point

9–10.30pm

Raise The Bar

Raise the Bar curate a foot-stompingly energetic finale of poetry and spoken word to round off the Crawl and set the floor for our riotous after-party.

SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER, FROM 6.30PM

Pitch And A Pint!

Join us and tuck in to a seasonal lunch or supper over the Literature Festival

TO BOOK A TABLE CALL US ON 01242 221 212

7.30–9pm

Litwitchure3 Waterstones

Litwitchure is the literary tarot cabaret and consultancy by Fiona Lensvelt and Jennifer Cownie: readers of books and dabblers in the occult. Stop by for a five-minute tarot reading, perfect for those new to cartomancy.

5–6pm

Shakespeare 1011 The Wilson Mezzanine

Roll up to receive a highly comic lesson on Shakespeare, from unconventional educators Shirley Halse and Hosanna Starkey. A show for anyone who loves, hates or simply does not understand the bard.

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Lives Of Colour4 The Sober Parrot

Lives of Colour celebrate difference by giving a platform for people from all ethnicities and social economic backgrounds to share their story. Join them for a vibrant showcase of music, spoken word and delicious East African food to fuel up for your night on the Crawl.

7.30–9pm

Alternative Book Club Pub Quiz12 Boston Tea Party

Alternative Book Club is an unconventional book night where there is absolutely no required reading – somewhere between a comedy night and a book club. Join us for this pub quiz version of the club, with rounds including ‘Name the classic from this ridiculous plot description’ and ‘Book titles in emoji’. Come alone or bring a team.

8–9pm

Nikita Gill: Great Goddesses

3 Waterstones

With over half a million Instagram followers and a host of celebrity fans, Nikita Gill is the UK’s most followed poet. Tonight, she makes her Cheltenham debut to perform from Great Goddesses: blending stories of Athena, Medusa and Circe from Greek mythology with modern feminist magic to create empowering life lessons from myths and monsters. Supported by a poetry set from Hammer and Tongue’s Georgia Stride.

6.30–7.30pm

Anna Hope: Expectation3 Waterstones

What happened to the woman you were supposed to become? Anna Hope’s Expectation is a searching look at friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition and has been one of the biggest hit reads of the summer. Don’t miss her visit to Waterstones to discuss it and sign copies.