TW Lit Fest 2026 Most Successful Event To Date
The Literary Festival took over Tunbridge Wells in the first 10 days of May, with more than 150 artists, authors and performers across 56 events at 10 venues across the town. Thanks to sponsorship from Berry & Lamberts Solicitors, 20% of tickets were free of charge or on a pay what you can basis.
Image Brian Bilston with TW Lit Fest organisers and sponsors
Across the first May Bank Holiday weekend, thousands visited the festival village in Calverley Grounds – in the Pavilion, the Thoughtful Spot, the Little Tent and the entertainment stage. The Festival of Ideas kicked things off, followed by the TW Climate & Nature Fair and finally a family fun day which culminated in a talk from Gyles Brandreth celebrating 100 years of Winnie the Pooh.
In addition we saw headliners including British Poet Brian Bilston who launched the festival, Donna Ashworth in conversation with Davina McCall, Georgie Jones, Professor Daisy Fancourt in conversation with Thangam Debbonaire, iconic TV presenter and author Johnny Ball, Rory Bremner in conversation with Matt Stadlen, Luke Wright, poet Jess Mookherjee, Iain Dale in conversation with Mike Martin MP as well as a showcase of the work of local writers and performances from local poets from Word Up! to name but a few.
Bob Willard Watts, Executive Director at Creative Tunbridge Wells, commented: “I have been blown away by the support for the Literary Festival this year. Our refreshed vision of Ideas, Books, Action has expanded the established work that Carole Winter began, and there were some fantastic outputs as a result. Thought-provoking debate on journalism, the art’s role in improved mental health, activism and philosophy, action on climate and environment in association with TW Climate and Nature Fair, workshops across a broad range of genres and topics and time with our national icon, Winnie the Pooh!
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"I want to extend my thanks to our bookshops, our onsite stallholders, our army of volunteers and the event team who all went above and beyond. In addition, my heartfelt gratitude to our headline sponsor Berry & Lamberts Solicitors, along with the support we received from RTW Together and TWBC. Without support from our community, we would not have been able to produce a festival of such great calibre. 2027 will see us return from 30th April to 9th May, with another stellar line up, but if you can’t wait that long, we have a Lit Fest pop-up coming soon. There will be two events on Monday 8th June, An Audience with John Sergeant followed by Like Never Before – Alistair McGowan in conversation, visit assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk to book tickets.”
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