Broadcaster Andrew Marr and novelist Maggie O'Farrell among lineup of this year's online Wigtown book festival

Credit: Wigtown Book Festival

Broadcaster Andrew Marr, former spin doctor Alastair Campbell and novelist Maggie O'Farrell are all contributors to the Wigtown Book Festival this year.

The festival, which in 2019 brought in some 20,000 people to the small town in south-west Scotland, generating £4.2m for the local economy, has moved online due to the pandemic.

Director, Adrian Turpin, said digital technology had proved a "lifeline" during lockdown, but hopes the town welcomes many people "in person" in 2021.

Adrian Turpin, the festival’s director. Credit: Wigtown Book Festival

Adrian said: “Wigtown is a distinctive place and we want to share its character with new and existing audiences in every way we can, putting the town in the public eye, nose and ear.

“The last six months have been a very difficult time and part of our aim is to offer the chance to have some fun.

“But there’s a serious point. The UK’s book festivals - large and small - are remarkable because they each reflect the places in which they take place. We want to cherish that diversity in every way, even at a time when we can’t gather ‘in real life’.

“We also hope that next year we will be able to welcome in person many of those whoexperience Wigtown for the first time through this digital event.”

Credit: ITV News

A key aim of the online event is to promote Wigtown businesses that have been hit by the crisis and will not benefit from an influx of visitors during the festival period.

Organisers say they also want audiences to be able to enjoy the "quirkiness, charm and atmosphere" of Wigtown, which is home to more than a dozen second-hand and new book shops.

The festival, which runs from 24 September to 4 October, includes:

  • Sound artist Stuart McLean recording the sounds of Wigtown for a "slow audio" experience

  • A limited edition of 100 bottles of the "aromatic air" from local bookshops

  • An online whisky tasting from the Bladnoch Distillery

  • Video feeds from some of the town's bookshops

Credit: PA

Among the speakers taking part in the are:

  • Novelists AL Kennedy, Andrew O’Hagan, Juno Dawson, Stuart Turton and PhilipHensher.

  • Broadcasters Andrew Marr, Carrie Gracie, George Alagiah and Gordon Corera

  • Historians Neil McGregor and Charles Spencer

  • Nature writers Helen Macdonald, Dara McAnulty and Patrick Laurie.

  • Non-fiction writers Mark O’Connell, Richard Holloway and Helena Kennedy

  • Poets Michael Longley, Dean Atta and Inua Ellams

  • World Book Day children’s authors Pamela Butchart and Sibeal Pounder.

Andrew Marr, who will be discussing his forthcoming book Elizabethans: How Modern Britain Was Forged, said: “I’ve always wanted to go to the Wigtown Book Festival and I am delighted to be taking part, albeit virtually, and look forward to going there in person one day.”

The full programme can be found here.