How wine led to Derby’s annual celebration of words

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, we meet the organisers behind the Derby Book Festival.

Since the first event in 2015, the festival has become one of the largest and most successful literary festivals in the East Midlands, attracting celebrated authors and poets to the city.

Over the years, the festival has also developed a thriving community programme, allowing people across the social spectrum to embrace the joy of reading.

The idea for the festival was conceived in 2014 by fellow book-lovers Sian Hoyle and Jenny Denton over a glass of wine in Quad.

Festival director Sian told Innovate: “Jenny and I were both keen supporters of Quad.

“She’s an amazing woman and one of those people who has an idea and just  makes it happen.

“We were both in book groups and started talking about festivals. I’d never been to one, there wasn’t one locally and it was something we both felt that Derby could do with.”

The ambition was turned into reality thanks to the unanimous support of arts and educational partners and local businesses, who all took the festival to their heart.

The first festival was a great success, with 62 events held and more than 3,000 tickets sold.

Since then, the festival has continued to go from strength-to-strength, attracting big name authors, while also providing a showcase for local talent.

The support given to festival has allowed it to develop its extensive programme of work carried out throughout the year with schools and in the community.

Sian told Innovate: “We’re always trying to extend the audience and reach new audiences.

“It was something that was in mind right from the start, particularly given Jenny’s background working in the community and, when she stopped  working day-to-day for the festival, she moved onto the community programme and set up our shared writing and reading programmes.”

To read the feature in full visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/428478c2ea.html#page/37 .

Tickets are now on sale for the Derby Book Festival ‘Autumn Edition’, which is set to take place from 17 to 19 November.

For more information visit https://www.derbybookfestival.co.uk/ .