Cheltenham Literature Festival 2022 set to welcome over 9,000 children

Cheltenham Literature Festival will welcome over 9,000 children at this year’s events. With more than 60 dedicated to children ages five to 18, students will be able to attend a variety of events both in person and online.

Originally launched in 1949, the festival is the first and longest running of its kind, "celebrating the written and spoken word, presenting the best new voices in fiction and poetry alongside literary greats and high-profile speakers". Year on year, it has been known to sell over 100,00 tickets with around 10 per cent of those being sold to schools and their pupils.

According to Sarah Cooksley, Head of Learning and Participation at Cheltenham Festivals: “We have more than 9,000 school children attending the festival over six days – this is in line with previous years, excluding Covid years”.

She continued: “Thanks to the Summerfield Charitable Trust, we have given away more than 300 free tickets to pupils from schools serving low-income communities and offer these schools support with paying costs of transport to the festival”.

School children can attend talks, workshops and webinars, as well as free storytelling events and free activities in the Wild Wood, some of which are for SEND schools and their students.

Credit: Kate Murdoch

This year’s festival follows the announcement that nearly two million school-aged children in the UK are struggling with talking and understanding words as a result of Covid leaving gaps in their learning.

The study by Speech and Language UK said at least 1.7 million students were struggling with verbal communication and it risked affecting their education.

Speaking on the importance of the festival for children’s literacy, Dr. Tracey Wire, a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Gloucestershire said: “The Literature Festival provides opportunities for children to be introduced to unfamiliar texts and authors across a range of genres and text types, to encounter authors who bring their work to life and inspire children to read. The children's element of the festival opens doors to literature and reading that might otherwise be missed”.

She continued: “We know that reading is important for so many reasons. It helps children to develop social skills empathy, their critical and creative thinking, it promotes curiosity, dialogue and oracy skills”.

Credit: Kate Murdoch

The festival runs from 7 – 16 October in Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham.

To find out more about this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival, please visit the festival's official website.