Newark Book Festival is almost here and it’s making final preparations for a feast of fun-filled family entertainment where imaginative tales, animal friends and super stories spill out of books and across the town’s streets.

The festival runs from Thursday 6th to Sunday, 9th July and is action-packed with author talks, writing workshops, storytelling sessions, and street theatre, together with the return of the literature village in the Market Place.

“We are thrilled to welcome a fantastic range of authors, musicians and artists to Newark for the 2023 festival,” said the festival’s artistic director, Sara Bullimore. “The event has a great variety this year, with many events free to visit, and we look forward to encouraging younger readers to celebrate everything to do with books,”

Family events include author Gareth Peter on a journey through his colourful and inclusive stories, and award-winning author/illustrator JARVIS and his friends Bear and Bird who are off on a picnic adventure where you can expect giggles, games, and storytelling.

Saturday events also include the Rhubarb Theatre’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, Street Theatre with Ugly Bugs Wingding, storytime at Neverland Books, making your own minibeast, and discovering how one young child became an author with Dogtopia.

There will be music, singing, and dancing in the Market Place and Urban Canvas (creators of The Rainbow Road) are returning for Historic Street Games on Sunday 9th.

Newark Castle is again a family-filled zone on Sunday 9th, featuring authors, wonderland inspired games, street theatre, Yoga and Barry’s Eco World trail.

There will be a pop-up dome planetarium on the Palace Theatre’s stage on the Sunday.

Alongside the family programme are a range of headliner author, artist, and music events from The Bookshop Band, Henry Normal, Mark Cocker, Mike Gayle, Lucy Diamond, Vaseem Khan, Luca Veste, Joanna Cannon and Leslie Cavendish.

<strong>For more information and to book tickets visit the festival website at <a href=”https://www.newarkbookfestival.org.uk”>www.newarkbookfestival.org.uk</a></strong>

<strong>Tickets are still available from Newark Palace Theatre. Sold-out events are listed on the website. Call the Box Office on 01636 655755 for further details.</strong>