Wigtown Book Festival

The Wigtown Book Festival is a ten-day literary festival held each autumn in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The festival was first held in 1999 and has grown to be the second biggest book festival in Scotland.

In 2007 the Wigtown Festival Company became a registered charity.

In 2013, there were 7500 visitors to the festival, more than half of which were from outside Dumfries and Galloway. A report commissioned by the Wigtown Festival Company in 2013 estimated that the festival contributed £2 million to the regional economy each year. This was three times higher than that estimated by a similar study in 2008.

Future Festival

In 2024, the festival is scheduled 27 September - 6 October.

Poetry competition

The festival runs an annual poetry competition and awards three separate prizes for compositions in English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots.

References

• MacLeod, D. (2009). "Scottish theme towns: Have new identities enhanced development?" (PDF). Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change. 7 (2): 133–145. doi:10.1080/14766820903126460. S2CID 35853860.
• Seaton, A. V. (1999). "Book towns as tourism developments in peripheral areas". International Journal of Tourism Research. 1 (5): 389–399. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1522-1970(199909/10)1:5<389::AID-JTR204>3.0.CO;2-0.

External links

• Official website
• Programmes: 2004 2005 2006 2007 20112012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

1. Wigtown
2. Spring Fling Open Studios
3. A Thousand Ships
4. Festivals in Scotland
5. Caleb Azumah Nelson
6. Makar (National Poet for Scotland)
7. Dumfries and Galloway
8. Samantha Harvey (author)
9. Doireann Ní Ghríofa
10. Paul Bright (author)
11. William Hershaw
12. Hugh McMillan (poet)
13. Tahir Shah
14. Pippa Goldschmidt
15. Marcas Mac an Tuairneir
16. Auricle Ensemble
17. Homecoming Scotland 2009
18. Scottish book sculptures
19. Mairi Hedderwick
20. Book town