Around the Festival

Ticket Office and Ticket Booth

Tickets during the festival can be collected and purchased from the ticket office in the County Buildings (01988 403222 / 01988 402036). We take Visa/ Mastercard/ Delta/ Switch. For conveniance, this year we have also introduced a cash-only ticket booth near the entrance to the Festival Marquee.

Palace Picture House and Activities

Weekends, Outside County Buildings (£2)

Roll up, roll up! Alice Frances invites you to Alice's Palace Picture House, a complete 1920s cinema in miniature. Alice and her manager, The Fat Controller, will be showing a selection of films, from Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy to contemporary Scottish and Irish shorts. Check the Palace blackboard for programme details. Alice's helpers will also be providing free circus- and film-based activities, including the Fat Controller's incredible and terrifying peep show. Look if you dare.

Festival Exhibition: Now we are Ten

10am-4pm

Bowling Pavilion (Free)

Wigtown became Scotland's National Book Town in 1998 with the first book festival held in the autumn of 1999. Through photographs, documents and personal reminiscences, this exhibition looks back at a decade of success.

Visit from Bécherel, Cité du Livre

Following the successful project between Wigtown and Bécherel in 2007, we are delighted to announce the arrival of a delegation from Bécherel during the 10th Anniversary Festival.  The party from Bécherel (the first Book Town in France, now celebrating it's 20th year) will provide information on Brittany, a sample of Breton products and calligrapher Michele Cornec will demonstrate her art.  Michele will also run calligraphy classes on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September.  For more information, please contact the Festival Office.  The delegation look forward to welcoming you to their stand at the Festival, to discover Bécherel and Brittany.

Festival Bookshop and Bar

Daily 10am-5pm (6.30pm weekends)

Outside the County Buildings

The Festival Bookshop has copies of books by all the authors at the festival, as well as festival book bags and bookmarks. It also has a small bar where you can pick up a glass of wine bewteen events.

Sponsored by GC Books

The Book Doctor

Weekends 11-4pm (£1)
Want advice on what to read next? Need someone to give your writing an honest diagnosis? Or just fancy a chat? Whether you are eight or eighty, visit the Book Doctor's drop-in surgery outside the County Buildings. No appointment needed. Consultations last 10 minutes.

Project 10

The Creaking Shelves Bookshop (Free)

To celebrate our 10th festival, we've asked the people of Wigtown what life was like when they were 10. The result is a remarkable portrait of the town and its inhabitants down the years. You can listen to some of the highlights at our listening posts in The Creaking Shelves Bookshop and the Bowling Pavilion. A CD called 'When We Were 10' is also on sale (£5) at the festival bookshop, proceeds of which will go to Dolly's Parton's Imagination Library, which provides free monthly books for children under five in the Machars area.