Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival plays host to over 650 international and Scottish authors in 700 events over 17 days each August.

All events are held in a beautiful tented village in Charlotte Square Gardens – an historic Georgian garden in the heart of the city. It’s a vibrant meeting place for world-class writers and thinkers from Nobel Prize-winners to exciting new blood, with over 45 different countries represented. A wide range of events, including talks and readings, debates, booksignings, workshops and storytelling, attracts over 200,000 visitors every August.

Entrance to Charlotte Square Gardens is free and it’s a great place to just unwind and soak up the atmosphere, to have a drink and a chat. A uniquely family friendly environment, there are plenty of facilities for children such as a buggy park, baby change area and free activity and reading corner.

Easy on the pocket, many events are free including live music and storytelling, the rest range from just £2 to £10 a ticket. Two independently-run bookshops are housed onsite: one solely dedicated to children’s literature, one for adults, both featuring thousands of great titles. There are also various bars and cafes in the gardens which offer a good selection of wine and beer, a tempting range of salads, sandwiches, Fair Trade coffees and teas as well as delicious cakes, tarts and pastries.

Running alongside the Adult programme is the highly regarded Children's Programme, featuring hundreds of activities, author events and workshops for young people from babies to teens. A separate programme just for schools includes events for teachers and a fun Gala Day – a whole day dedicated to primary school children.

Amongst the thousands of world-renowned authors to have recently appeared at the Book Festival are: Al Gore, Zadie Smith, Ian Rankin, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Irvine Welsh, John Irving, Jung Chang and Gore Vidal. Nobel prize-winners who have done an event include V S Naipaul, Nadine Gordimer, Wole Soyinka, Toni Morrison, Dario Fo and in 2006 Harold Pinter, Joseph Stiglitz and Seamus Heaney. Authors invited to take part in the Book Festival long before they became internationally famous are: Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, Kazuo Ishiguro and, of course, JK Rowling – they have all since returned. So come and meet your favourite author and grab a big slice of brain food!

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