The 2019 Portobello Book Festival will run from 4th-6th October.

The tenth Portobello Book Festival was a great success and we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Over the weekend, there were about 1000 people in and out of the library, Jameson Gate and the Baptist Church Hall, and comments across the board have been very positive indeed. Our intention is always to try as far as possible to make sure that those who make up the community of Portobello see themselves, their experience and their interests reflected in the programme – to be inclusive and local but never parochial! This year’s festival was perhaps the most diverse to date. The programme is also designed to bring together a distinctive mix of subjects, writers, commentators and readers creating what we hope is an atmosphere that is convivial and stimulating

The organising team would like to thank:

The talented musicians and writers who took part in the opening event celebrating the launch of our anniversary publication Postcards from Portobello 

All our participating writers for inspiring us

Our fantastic chairs for keeping everything running smoothly

Our soundman Jock and his assistant Riley for making sure that everyone could be heard

Our wonderful team of volunteers whose help was invaluable

Blackwell’s Bookshop for providing staff for the weekend and making sure all our authors’ books were available for sale after each event

Jameson Gate for hosting a fantastic and very popular event. It was great to have a new venue.

Portobello Baptist Church for their help and use of the premises

The teachers and children at the school events for their enthusiasm

Steve Harvey for organising the ever popular book quiz at the Dalriada

A special thanks to Paul Hudson and the staff of Portobello Library, a fantastic resource on our doorstep, without whose help and time we would not be able to run our festival

And of course, thanks to everyone who came along to the events and created such a vibrant atmosphere.

The 2019 programme will be launched early September with tickets available shortly afterwards. The organising team will be starting to plan for this very soon. Any ideas and suggestions will be warmly welcomed.

The 2019 Portobello Book Festival will run from 4th-6th October.