The organising team had a fantastic weekend and hope you enjoyed any events that you came to. Do let us know what you thought of the festival. Here are a selection of photos from the weekend.
We don’t seem to have any photos of the Democracy in Crisis event on Sunday so if you took any you’d be willing to let us use, please get in touch! You can email portobellobookfestival@gmail.com
You can also watch our reels from the weekend on Instagram
The 2025 Portobello Book Festival was a great success and
we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Over the weekend, despite Storm Amy, Portobello Book Festival attracted hundreds of people to the library, and we have had some lovely feedback both from those taking part and those attending. 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 experiences and their interests reflected in the programme. The programme is also designed to bring together a distinctive mix of subjects, writers, commentators and readers.
The organising team would like to thank:
All our participating writers for inspiring and entertaining us.
Our fantastic chairs for keeping everything running smoothly.
Brunstane and St John’s Primary Schools for welcoming two authors to their schools on Friday morning and thanks to the pupils attending these events for their enthusiasm!
Our sound team Jock and Dave for making sure that everyone could be heard.
The ‘chair gang’ who helped moved 100 chairs from Portobello Town Hall to the library on Friday and back again on Monday. Also thanks to those who helped move chairs after events.
The Portobello Bookshop for providing a pop-up bookshop run by their cheerful staff over the weekend and making sure all our authors’ books were available for sale after each event.
A big thank you to Paul Hudson and the staff of Portobello Library, a fantastic resource on our doorstep. We really take over the library over the weekend including their staff room! The collaboration with the library and the help and time given by the library staff are what makes the festival the success it is.
And of course, thanks to our engaged and enthusiastic audiences who came along to the events and created such a vibrant atmosphere.
We start to plan our October festival well in advance so if you’re interested in being considered for inclusion, contacting us in the first half of January is a good idea. There are always limited spots and after our early planning sessions most of these are already accounted for. We’re volunteers so can’t always keep track of requests carrying over year on year, so getting in touch in early January makes it easier for us to consider you.
The 2026 programme will be launched early September
with tickets available shortly afterwards.
Unfortunately the Graphic Novel Builder workshop due to take place on Friday afternoon has had to be cancelled. Apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.
At the Portobello Book Festival in 2024 the writing workshop commemorated and celebrated the Groynes on Portobello Beach. Anyone who has visited Portobello Beach will be familiar with the wooden structures and might be interested to read the writing inspired by them by the writers at the workshop.
To read the book online, please either scan the QR code or click the link below.
In just a few days, this year’s festival will kick off with our first event The Busy-Bodies: A Portobello Tale at midday on Friday at Portobello Library.
On Friday and Saturday, most events will be upstairs in the library, as the library will be open to the public during the day. The exceptions are Frankly on Friday evening which will be in the library downstairs, and the Poetry Writing Workshop which will take place in Tribe Porty in Windsor Place, on Saturday morning.
For Sunday events, there are events both upstairs and downstairs: you will be directed to the right place if you are unsure. As the library is closed to the public on Sundays, you will have to wait outside until just before the event begins so bear this in mind if the weather is bad.
Throughout the weekend, The Portobello Bookshop will be running a stall in the library with books by all our participating authors (and chairs if applicable) available to buy. After each event, there will be an opportunity to have your books signed.
As you know, since our festival is free to all, we are always very grateful for any donations which help cover our costs for printing the programme, hiring our sound crew and sound equipment and of course, paying our authors’ expenses. As well as the traditional buckets for cash, if you wish you can donate using your smart phone via a QR code and we also have a card machine. You will find the codes around the library or just ask one of the committee members on duty.
If you have tickets you can no longer use, please return tickets to the library so others can have a chance to attend the event. Some of our events are fully booked but check with the library for returns. It’s always worth turning up on the day just before the event. Obviously ticket holders will be allowed in first but if there is space we will try to accommodate those without tickets. Of course, we cannot guarantee this but we often can find space.
And finally, all of us on the organising committee hope you enjoy any events you attend over the weekend. We’d love to hear any feedback from you afterwards.
We are delighted to say that programmes and tickets will be available soon for our 2025 festival. The programme will be officially launched in early September and will be available to pick up in the library, The Portobello Bookshop and various other local business around Portobello from Friday 5th September. The full programme will also be available on our website from 5th September.
Then on Saturday 13th September from 10am, head along to the library to collect your tickets. Members of the organising committee will be on hand that morning to give out tickets, then the lovely library staff will take over. There is no online booking, tickets must be picked up in person and as always are free. Tickets will be limited to four per event to try to ensure as many people as possible have the chance to get tickets to the events they want.
The 2024 Portobello Book Festival was a great success and
we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Over the weekend, Portobello Book Festival attracted over 2000 people to the library, Portobello Swim Centre and The Portobello Bookshop, and we have had some lovely feedback both from those taking part and those attending. 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 experiences and their interests reflected in the programme. The programme is also designed to bring together a distinctive mix of subjects, writers, commentators and readers.
The organising team would like to thank:
All our participating writers for inspiring and entertaining us.
Our fantastic chairs for keeping everything running smoothly.
Our sound team Jock and Calum for making sure that everyone could be heard.
The ‘chair gang’ who helped moved 100 chairs from Portobello Town Hall to the library on Friday and back again on Monday. Also thanks to those who helped move chairs after events.
The Portobello Bookshop for hosting a great event on Friday evening. Also for providing a pop-up bookshop run by their cheerful staff over the weekend and making sure all our authors’ books were available for sale after each event.
A big thank you to Paul Hudson and the staff of Portobello Library, a fantastic resource on our doorstep. We really take over the library over the weekend including their staff room! The collaboration with the library and the help and time given by the library staff are what makes the festival the success it is.
And of course, thanks to our engaged and enthusiastic audiences who came along to the events and created such a vibrant atmosphere.
We start to plan our October festival well in advance so if you’re interested in being considered for inclusion, contacting us in the first half of January is a good idea. There are always limited spots and after our early planning sessions most of these are already accounted for. We’re volunteers so can’t always keep track of requests carrying over year on year, so getting in touch in early January makes it easier for us to consider you.
The 2025 programme will be launched early September
with tickets available shortly afterwards.
We have had a fantastic weekend and hope you enjoyed any events that you came to. Do let us know what you thought of the festival. Here are a selection of photos from the weekend which we may add to over the next few days.
On Your Bike – Sunday 4pm
Unfortunately Alan Brown is no longer able to take part in this event. However, it will still go ahead with Colin Salter discussing his book Remarkable Bicycle Rides with Jude Nixon. There are a few tickets left for the event that you can pick up from the library, which is open from 10-5 today, Friday and Saturday. If you can’t manage to the library before Sunday, just come along on the day. There’s a good chance you will get in.
In just a few days, this year’s festival will kick off with our Meet the Author event featuring Olga Wojtas on Friday afternoon at Portobello Library.
On Friday and Saturday, most events will be upstairs in the library, as the library will be open during the day. The exceptions are the book launch for The Specimens at The Portobello Bookshop on Friday evening, the Writing Workshop in Portobello Swim Centre on Saturday morning, and I Must Go Down to the Seas Again on Saturday evening which is in the main library.
For Sunday events, there are events both upstairs and downstairs, although you will be directed to the right place if you are unsure. As the library is closed to the public on Sundays, you will have to wait outside until just before the event begins so bear this in mind if the weather is bad.
Throughout the weekend, The Portobello Bookshop will be running a stall in the library with books by all our participating authors (and chairs if applicable) available to buy. After each event, there will be an opportunity to have your books signed.
As you know, since our festival is free to all, we are always very grateful for any donations which help cover our costs for printing the programme, hiring our sound crew and sound equipment and of course, paying our authors’ expenses. As well as the traditional buckets for cash, if you wish you can donate using your smart phone via a QR code and we also have a card machine. You will find the codes around the library or just ask one of the committee members on duty.
If you have tickets you can no longer use, please return tickets to the library so others can have a chance to attend the event. Many of our events are fully booked but check with the library for returns. It’s always worth turning up on the day just before the event. Obviously ticket holders will be allowed in first but if there is space we will try to accommodate those without tickets. Of course, we cannot guarantee this but we often can find space.
And finally, all of us on the organising committee hope you enjoy any events you attend over the weekend. We’d love to hear any feedback from you afterwards.
Portobello Book Festival 