Wigtown Book Festival

Wigtown Book Festival is a 10-day literary celebration, featuring author talks, music, theatre and family events.


The festival welcomes authors from across the UK and abroad, from debuts to bestsellers, to talk about their latest books and join lively panel discussions. A bagpipe procession and fireworks display kick off the festival each year, with live music, theatre and a Ceilidh taking place through the week. Visitors can enjoy talks on every subject, from history to politics, farming to philosophy, fiction, biography, nature and much more. Former guests include Joanna Lumley, Doddie Weir, Carol Ann Duffy, Jeremy Bowen, Reverend Richard Coles and Susan Calman.

The Book Festival reached its 25th year in 2023, welcoming Michael Morpurgo, Hamza Yassin, Judy Murray, Nicola Sturgeon and Kate Mosse, among many others, to celebrate its silver anniversary.

The Big Wig children’s programme offers storytelling and interactive author talks with some of the UK’s best-loved children’s authors, illustrators and storytellers. Former guests include Julia Donaldson, Mairi Hedderwick, Nick Sharratt and Cathy Cassidy.