Marlborough’s sixth annual Literature festival opened yesterday (Friday) in a blaze of publicity, as the BBC Wiltshire Drive Time show came entirely from the High Street.
Presenter Lee Stone was on the steps of the Town Hall, interviewing authors, organisers, volunteers and ticket-holders about the festival experience.
Meanwhile, inside the building, sponsors and VIPs mingled at a private launch party. In a short speech before author Salley Vickers gave the annual Golding Lecture – the festival’s tribute to Marlborough’s greatest literary son, William Golding – festival chairman Jan Williamson found time to praise everyone who had been involved in the event.
And there were particularly fond words for Angus MacLennan and the White Horse Bookshop. “You can’t have a literature festival without a bookshop,” she said. “and we have one of the best independent bookshops in the country.”
- Marlborough News Online will be carrying reviews across the festival weekend
Pictures courtesy of Ben Phillips Photography Ltd