Wigtown Book Festival

 Set in glorious rolling countryside in the shadow of the Galloway hills and a stone's throw from the Solway Firth, the royal burgh of Wigtown is Scotland's National Book Town. It has often been described as a sort Hay-on-Wye with a kilt: the ancient market town has more than 15 bookshops. It's also home to the Wigtown Book Festival, the largest annual literary gathering in Scotland outside Edinburgh.

One of the things that makes this festival unique is the level of community involvement. Set up originally as part of a project to reinvigorate a (then) rather down-at-heel town, it relies on dozens of local volunteers. More than 10 per cent of the town's people give their time.

When? 23 Sept - 2 Oct - Wigtown Book Festival, 2016

Who? 2016 TBA

Where? Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

How much? Events Various

Festival Website? Wigtown Book Festival

Twitter? @WigtownBookFest

Past festivals:

2015 - RevRichard Cole, Vale McDermid, Phil Jupitus +

Peter Snow, Joanna Lumley, Fred MacAulay, Anne Applebaum, Sally Magnusson, Mark Lawson, James Robertson, Atremis Cooper, Sara Maitland (video about one of her books below)++

Chris Brookmyre, Tam Dalyell, Tom Devine, Janice Galloway, Misha Glenny, Celia Imrie, AL Kennedy, Rory Stewart, David Vann and Maggie O'Farre

Recent speakers have ranged from Top Gear's James May to Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle; from a political firebrand such as George Galloway to distinguished Scottish writers like James Kelman, Janice Galloway, AL Kennedy and Alasdair GrayIain Banks, Roddy Doyle, Kenny Logan, Roberta Taylor, Giles Foden, Allan Little, Max Arthur, Louis de Bernieres, Charlie Allan, Sara Maitland and Allan Massie, Michael Morpurgo, Lsouis de Bernières, Sophie Hannah, James Kelman, Janice Galloway, Richard T Kelly, Hardeep Singh Kohli, , Menzies Campbell, Scottish Opera, Kathleen Jamie, Sandra Howard and Edward Lucas

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