Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye. To read the full list, please click here.
This post is to remind you of those taking place this Autumn.
You can attend individual days or the whole weekend. The event has been running for twelve years at the university and includes workshops, one-to-ones and helping writers getting an agent or with publishing independently.
This event is run by Norwich Writers’ Centre and I think this is its fifth year. You pay for the events you wish to attend (some are free) which range from author talks to workshops.
This year, they are celebrating their 20th anniversary as Scotland’s National Book Town.
There are hundreds of events and you by tickets for those you wish to attend. There are free events for children and if books aren’t your thing you will find other arts featuring at the event such as music, film and theatre.
At the time of writing this years date and prices were yet to be confirmed. I included it because last years line up was full of house hold names (like Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson, Miranda Hart, etc). I’m sure this year will be just as promising – this is one to watch!
The information for the site is currently about last years event which was aimed at families and young adult. I recognised a lot of the names and books in attendance and the event is supported by The Times and The Sunday Times. I expect it will be very promising again this year.
Once called Manchester Poetry Festival, this event has grown year upon year. It now hosts a wider range of events. The main events take place in October but there are literary events outside of this window. You pay for the events you wish to attend.
Held by Liverpool University is a weekend of literary events in this cultural city full of history. It is a varied programme with some big name in attendance and you buy tickets to the events you wish to attend.
Literary events are planned over the weekend and you can by a day ticket to attend all of them that day. It’s a small event but with good variety. Plus, Southwold is a beautiful seaside town to visit.
Amazon let me down! I ordered my party supplies and they arrived just as the party finished. I didn’t let that ruin the day. Oh no, I took to Pintrest and I got my sister to help me out with her Guide Leader experience.
I hadn’t wanted the party to be a big deal. Just a get together with my best friends and immediate family so I could share our good news altogether. Most importantly, I wanted the focus to be about Noah becoming a big brother.
Food
I had some amazing idea boards on Pinterest and had fallen in love with the idea of a Mad Hatters tea party theme. I ran out of time for that so had to come up with a new idea.
My table spread consisted of:
Healthy snacks – fruit (nectarines, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries) and vegetables for dips and snack cucumbers
Savoury snacks – cheese pizza, chicken nugget (with ketchup in egg cups) and crisps
Sweet snacks – selection of cakes and biscuits
The juice jug was a titled jug. I used Mr Kipplings cakes as they are sealed (prevents kids poking them before they have committed to eating them).
The centre piece was a cake from Morrisons with a surprise center (multi coloured sweets) and I just added a ‘Girl or Boy?’ cake topper bought from Etsy.
By putting the healthy stuff at the front, the children were encouraged to eat the fruit and veg – it worked! They were the first be eaten.
Activities
We had a number of activities for the kids in celebration of a new baby. These were:
Little bean
You will need:
egg carton
soil
runner bean seeds
My sister brought soil, beans and an egg carton. She cut the carton up to make little pots for each of them to grow their own (runner) bean. They put soil in their carton and planted their bean and watered it.
Baby face plates
You will need:
paper plates
a section of craft bits i..e pens, pencils, crayons, glue, fluffy balls, fuzzy bendy wires
My sister had brought a ‘one I made earlier’ plate for the children to see what they could achieve. They then each had a paper plate and used pens, glue and fluffy bits and paper to decorate their plate and make a baby face.
Volcano – gender reveal
You will need:
a tray
a small bottle (i.e. Robinsons fruit shoot)
1 cup bicarbonate of soda (baking soda in US)
200ml vinegar
food colouring (pink/blue – depending on the gender)
measuring jug
measuring cups
The children really came to my rescue as they helped with an activity I had never done before.
I added the secret ingredient before we started and secured the bottle (Robinson Fruit Shoot) to an old baking tray using masking tape.
The children covered the bottle in play-doh to make a rainbow mountain volcano (and helped secure it further).
We then used a 1/4 cup for measuring the bi-carbonate of soda to a measuring jug (this enabled them all to have a turn), then used the jug to pour this into the bottle. Using a measuring jug made it easier to get into the neck of the bottle.
We then added vinegar, carefully and slowly to reveal blue or pink.
Cuddles
My little nephew was a star at the party as we were all in baby mode. Everyone wanted a cuddle with him and he was a really good sport about being passed around. The children listened carefully about supporting his head and were incredibly gentle with him.
I was really proud of all the kids. They really made this party awesome.
My room decorations and confetti cannon from Amazon did not arrive in time but I think the end result showed me that you don’t need those things to throw a good Gender Reveal party.
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye. To read the full list, please click here.
This post is to remind you of those taking place this Spring.
This festival is made up of events and you buy tickets to participate in events. Events vary between workshops, speakers and screenings.
If you miss the event, this seaside town is still worth a visit. They have one of the most beautiful traditional bookshops, a lovely beach and chip shops.
This event promises to deliver a platform for underrepresented women writers such a lesbians. This is sure to be a positive event that is making a difference to supporting diversity and inclusion. Supported by DIVA magazine and The Guardian.
If Erotica is your thing, then there is a convention just for you. This event is in its 7th year and often sells out. It has schedule of speakers and events and is a structured event.
This year has a talk on how to blog about sex for the shy writer – aghhh the world of an erotic writer. One day I may be brave enough to write and share erotic fiction but for now the thought still makes my cheeks turn read (no, not like that!). I would probably benefit from the ‘confidence’ talk.
You buy tickets for the events you want to attend. There are a lot of authors attending and giving talks and there are events for children too. The event is not at one location but across the city so make sure you are able to get from one location to another if you booking multiple events. Filter the events by the category you are interested in, i.e. Workshops, etc.
This event is geared towards those involved in publishing but and has various talks on keeping those in the industry up-to-date with financial, legal and trending themes in the publishing world. There are plenty of exhibits covering pretty much every type of genre you can think of.
It is their 70th year running! This 17 day event will bring the streets of Bath alive with music and literature. Check the ‘What’s On’ page on the website to find events that take your interest. Each event requires a ticket and the price differs.
Everyone I know who has been to Bath has always returned gushing about how amazing it is. They are also home to one of the most well known and prestigious writing competitions (Bath Novel Award).
I wanted to do this post at the start of the year but January flew by. So here is a list of the the literary (and book) festivals that have caught my eye and are coming up this year:
If you are a fan of Romance fiction this could be the event for you. You can check the hundreds of authors attending to see if one of your favourites are going. Then you can meet them and take your books with you for them to sign. There will be book sellers to.
They have events all over the world so if you miss this one, check out some of the other dates/locations.
Run with the Time Literary supplement, this event has a number of activities such as talks, discussions, workshops for writers through to activities for kids.
If you miss the event or can’t attend, they also offer free videos and podcasts from the event.
This festival is made up of events and you buy tickets to participate in events. Events vary between workshops, speakers and screenings.
If you miss the event, this seaside town is still worth a visit. They have one of the most beautiful traditional bookshops, a lovely beach and chip shops.
This event promises to deliver a platform for underrepresented women writers such a lesbians. This is sure to be a positive event that is making a difference to supporting diversity and inclusion. Supported by DIVA magazine and The Guardian.
If Erotica is your thing, then there is a convention just for you. This event is in its 7th year and often sells out. It has schedule of speakers and events and is a structured event.
This year has a talk on how to blog about sex for the shy writer – aghhh the world of an erotic writer. One day I may be brave enough to write and share erotic fiction but for now the thought still makes my cheeks turn read (no, not like that!). I would probably benefit from the ‘confidence’ talk.
You buy tickets for the events you want to attend. There are a lot of authors attending and giving talks and there are events for children too. The event is not at one location but across the city so make sure you are able to get from one location to another if you booking multiple events. Filter the events by the category you are interested in, i.e. Workshops, etc.
This event is geared towards those involved in publishing but and has various talks on keeping those in the industry up-to-date with financial, legal and trending themes in the publishing world. There are plenty of exhibits covering pretty much every type of genre you can think of.
It is their 70th year running! This 17 day event will bring the streets of Bath alive with music and literature. Check the ‘What’s On’ page on the website to find events that take your interest. Each event requires a ticket and the price differs.
Everyone I know who has been to Bath has always returned gushing about how amazing it is. They are also home to one of the most well known and prestigious writing competitions (Bath Novel Award).
At the time of writing, the tickets are not yet online. But, from previous years there have been free events as well as events you can pay for a ticket. The paid for events have not been expensive (under £10). Events range from exhibitions, speakers, workshops and children’s activities. Events are split between the library and the Orwell Hotel.
I’ve been a few times to this festival. There have been some amazing speakers and engaging workshops.
This is event is for young people only (18 and under – hence the student price). I had to include it because if I was young, I would go. This event has a number of speakers, workshops and activities and as you would expect a focus on YA and children’s fiction.
My dream is to one day be invited to be a speaker but if I ever want that to happen I need to stop dreaming and get writing.
This event is in addition to the London Film and Comic Convention. The YALC have exhibit stands where you can speak to authors, agents and publisher and buy books. They have agent one-to-ones, workshops and speakers at the convention and lots of space to sit down and read. The focus her is on YA Literature.
The tickets include access downstairs to the London Film and Comic Convention. If you are a fan of Marvel, DC, Anime or anything like that you can pop downstairs to see their exhibits and stalls too.
Date: TBC:5 August 2018 to 14 August 2018 (Last year was 6 October 2017 to 15 October 2017)
Location: Cheltenham
Tickets: TBC (Advanced booking for members)
The information for the site is currently about last years event which was aimed at families and young adult. I recognised a lot of the names and books in attendance and the event is supported by The Times and The Sunday Times. I expect it will be very promising again this year.
At the time of writing, ticket prices weren’t available. This is a really big event with a lot of things going on simultaneously and something for every taste. I have never been but would love to go one day.
At the time of writing this years date and prices were yet to be confirmed. I included it because last years line up was full of house hold names (like Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson, Miranda Hart, etc). I’m sure this year will be just as promising – this is one to watch!
Many more
There are loads more great festivals around the country and I have only highlighted a small sample.
Please let me know if you are or have been to any of these or have any to recommend.
It’s been a busy couple of days but I’ll leave that for another post. Due to my schedule, I did struggle to have time this week to film my Pip Box unboxing and take photos of the content.
What was in the box?
As usual, Pip did not disappoint. They had a good range of different products and most by brands I have not tried before. Here is what I got:
This is powder face mask that you mix with water to use. The size in the box is a small sample size. I’ve tried it before in Balm Balm’s Starter Kit (£15.50). This was the first organic skincare brand I ever tried because I loved how affordable and effective it is and it initiated my love for organic products.
I’ve always wanted to try their Frankincense and Tea Tree range. They also have a mother & baby range.
This is a new brand for me. I love the sliding tin with the lip balm and it smells delicious – vanilla is one of my favourite smells. Their site offers free deliver on all UK Orders and they have a lot of other very desirable products that now have me tempted.
This body wash smells lush but on top of that it scores all the goodness points for being organic, vegan, cruelty free and doesn’t contain any of the bad stuff. It’s sustainable and 100% biodegradable. Their products uses Ayurvedic ingredients suitable for treating a range of sensitive skin conditions like Eczema and Psoriasis.
Medusa Make-up, Witch Lash Mascara: RRP £25.49 (converted from US Dollars $36)
The mascara has a simple brush that is easy to use. I’ve had no issues with this smuging or flaking – it stays on all day. This is a vegan cruelty free brand that have a vast range of beauty products. I addition, the brand do their own subscription box where for about $15 you can recieve three to five full size products. This is a great way to expand your make-up collection if you are venturing into Vegan or Cruelty Free products. They have some beautiful metallic shades.
Optiat, The Hungover Coffee Scrub (Potent Peppermint): RRP £9.99
The scrub is dark brown (almost black) in colour which surprised me – I guess its the coffee. The minty scent was refreshing. Sadly, this one is not for me… I have a friend that loves body scrubs that I am going to give this him. Scrubs just aren’t my thing.
The brand name stands for “One Persons Trash Is Another’s Treasure” and was inspired by the coffee waste filling landfills and wanting to find a solution – a natural beauty product. If you want an environmentally friendly brand then this is a good one for you to consider.
Pip is a cruelty free beauty subscription box. The boxes contain a range of products from makeup, skincare and body care that are all not tested on animals. In addition, they donate 50p from every box sold to an Animal Friendly Charity.
It’s a great way to discover new brands and new products in an affordable way. The contents is always worth more than the subscription an contains a varied assortment.
