Nine days of talks, Q&As, performances & more in person and online starts this weekend! What are you waiting for – get booking your tickets for one of the UK’s favourite literary festivals 1st – 9th October.

This year there are three venues in central Henley jam packed with authors:

Outside the Marquee, located at Phyllis Court near the sports centre, there will be a range of food & drink offerings. During the day Henley Larder and Anonymous Coffee will be serving coffee, tea, pastries & sandwiches from 9am to 4pm (most days) while in the evenings from 3pm to 9pm there will be a pop-up Stable 34 bar and pizza and Prosecco from Jesecco Prosecco (all serving Laithwaites Wine!) Highlights this weekend include Ruth Jones, Robert Harris, Olivia Harrison & Talking to your Teenage Self with Florence Given, Nikita Gill & Bryony Gordon, plus family-friendly fun with Rob Biddulph, Cressida Cowell & Julian Clary. Then next week speakers include Anton du Beke, Tina Brown, Tim Peake & Alan Johnson. 

Based at the historic Kenton Theatre, the Laithwaites Stage is the perfect setting for performers including The First Cut is the Deepest singer PP Arnold, Floella Benjamin, Deacon Blue frontman Ricky Ross and RSC & Peep Show actor Paterson Joseph. This weekend’s highlights include Royal expert Robert Hardman, Laura Bates & Mary Ann Sieghart, and, perfect for ages 3+, Supertato & I Spy Island. Then next week we have Patrick Gale & Sarah Winman, Charles Spencer, Fern Britton & many more.

Inside Henley Town Hall there are events in the lower and upper chambers, while just outside in Market Place don’t miss the delicious Gower Cottage Brownies pop-up, open 9am to 5pm. Highlights this weekend include a Winnie the Pooh storytelling, novelists Freya Berry & Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Graham Boynton in conversation with Philip Colins and The Diary of Losing Dad author Emily Bevan. Then next week there’s Baillie Gifford Prize nominee Jonathan Freedland, helicopter pilot turned coach Sarah Furness, historian Judith Mackrell and lots of children’s events next weekend.

This year almost all of the Henley Literary Festival events are available to watch online, live and for the following 24 hours. This includes ones that are sold out in-person, such as Lucy Worsley, Miles Jupp, Ann Cleeves, Tony Laithwaite, Chris Patten & Katie Kirby, as well as 100 more. When you book a virtual livestream ticket you will receive a Crowdcast link at least 2 hours before the event and when the time comes just click on it and watch.

For more info and to book visit Henley Literary Festival