Events 2026

A View from the Saddle’ – Giles & Annie Henschel’s 10,000-mile Mediterranean journey on two aging BMW motorbikes, exploring how climate change is affecting the olive harvest.

Join local writer Catherine Speakman of Tess of the Vale for a gentle guided walk exploring the stories, history and landscape of Stourton Caundle in the Blackmore Vale. Following the village’s Stile Trail, this walk weaves together local folklore, medieval history and literary connections while exploring the fields, lanes and hidden corners that shape this Dorset landscape today.

During World War Two, thousands of black American troops arrived in the Westcountry. Many were treated appallingly by the US Army. Kate Werran is in conversation with Jo Durrant, discussing her book Black Yanks and the case of Leroy Henry, and the impact on the civil rights movement.

In an age of Generative AI and relentless digital news, artist and reporter George Butler offers a powerful alternative: slowing down to truly see. This visually rich, thought-provoking talk challenges audiences to look beyond headlines and photography, and to view the world through an artist’s eyes: with empathy, compassion, and creativity.

A day ticket for events featuring local writers on 16 June.

Dorset authors Tess Burnett and Elizabeth Cooke discuss their writing journey including as mature writers. Both authors write crime, mystery, and historical fiction.

Come and meet a group of local writers in a showcase of their work facilitated by Don Nordberg.

The Fleetwood Half-Orphan Asylum: From Middleton, somewhere in the middle of America, to Charleston, South Carolina, Don Nordberg’s tells a story of abandonment, of coping and failing to, of love and the absence thereof.

Enjoy a meandering walk in and at the southern edges of Marnhull that is Marlott in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Marlott was where Tess grew up; the home that she left four times, and to which she returned on three.

Monsters have thrilled and chilled us for thousands of years. From the dragon of Bavaria to the vampires of the Balkans, from the ferocious oni of Japan to Mary Shelley’s invention of Frankenstein’s monster and the movie monsters that fill our screens today, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber takes us on his journey into the origins and continuing resonance of monster stories: a journey that shines a light on the stories that connect communities all around the world.

Enjoy a meandering walk in and at the southern edges of Marnhull that is Marlott in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Marlott was where Tess grew up; the home that she left four times, and to which she returned on three.

In the spirit of previous volumes, Damien Lewis reveals the untold stories of the war’s most daring and audacious escapes as executed by the world’s most famous fighting force, the SAS.

A day ticket to three crime events on 19 June

Best-selling true crime author Mark Bridgeman discusses his research into an unsolved murder on Jersey.

Faith will talk about her humorous, Dorset-based crime cosy novels, The Body on the Roundabout and Death by Canape, which were inspired by her career as a news reporter in the county. She’ll explain why, after accidentally leaving journalism for PR, she missed her old newsroom so much, she created one of her own, the stories behind her characters and locations, and why she didn’t initially want to include a crime in her novel!

Best-selling true crime author Mark Bridgeman will be returning to the festival this year with another infamous real-life Dorset murder trial – in which YOU the audience will become the jury.

In this special writing workshop, Fiona Benson PhD will facilitate poetry creations with people from Ukraine and their host families.