Find a Book Festival
Book Festivals in Scotland
Scotland is a nation of readers and boasts more than 60 book and literary festivals throughout the year, from Stornoway to the Borders and from Skye to Aberdeen. We host the largest book festival in the world which started 70 years ago to newly formed events run by a small team of volunteers. At LAS, we're aiming to collate a full, up-to-date list so please let us know if we've missed any via [email protected]Happy reading around the nation!
| MONTH | DATE | EVENT | WEBSITE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JANUARY | 25 - 28 2024 | Burns&Beyond | @burnsandbeyond | burnsandbeyond.com |
| FEBRUARY | 20 - 25 | Granite Noir Aberdeen | @GraniteNoirFest #GraniteNoirFest | granitenoir.com |
| 25 Feb | Gray Day | grayday.info | ||
| MARCH | 8 - 10 | StAnza Poetry Festival Scotland's International Poetry Festival, St Andrews | @StAnzaPoetry #StAnza22 | stanza poetry.org |
| APRIL | TBC 2024 | Big DoG Children's Book Festival Wigtown | @BigDog_Fest | Facebook page |
| 25 - 28 | Paisley Book Festival | @BookPaisley | paisleybookfest.com | |
| 27 & 28 | Colonsay Book Festival | @ColonsayBookFes | colonsaybookfestival.org.uk | |
| MAY | 3 - 5 | Cromarty Crime and Thrillers Weekend | website | |
| 10 - 12 | Boswell Book Festival Dumfries House, Ayrshire | @bozzyfest | boswellbookfestival.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Ullapool Book Festival Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands In-person only | @UllapoolBookFes | ||
| TBC 2024 | Aye Write! Glasgow's Book Festival | @AyeWrite | ayewrite.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Word on the Street - Dingwall's Art Festival | word-on-the-street.weebly.com | ||
| JUNE | 31 May - 2 June | Cymera Book Festival | @CymeraF | cymerafestival.co.uk |
| 13 - 16 Jun 2024 | Borders Book Festival | @BordersBookFest | bordersbookfestival.org | |
| 14 - 16 2024 | Solas Arts Festival @ Errol Park, Perthshire | @solasfestival | solasfestival.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | East Neuk Festival | @EastNeukFest | eastneukfestival.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Shetland Noir | Shetlandarts.org | ||
| JULY | TBC 2024 | Govanhill International Festival and Carnival (Glasgow's Southside) | @GovanhillBaths | govanhillbaths.com/festival |
| 8 - 9 2023 | Glasgow Zine Fest | @GlasgowZineLib | website | |
| TBC 2024 | BIG LIT: The Stewartry Book Festival Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries & Galloway | biglit.org | ||
| TBC 2024 | Wonderland Book + Story Festival Vogrie Country Park, Midlothian | website | ||
| AUGUST | TBC 2024 | Bute Noir Crime Writing Festival Isle of Bute | Website | |
| 2 - 11 2024 | Fringe by the Sea North Berwick | @fringebythesea2 | fringebythesea.com | |
| 10 - 26 2024 | Edinburgh International Book Festival (hybrid event) | @edbookfest #edbookfest | edbookfest.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | McLellan Arts Festival Poetry Fringe Arran | website | ||
| TBC 2024 | Beyond Borders International Festival of Literature and Thought | @BeyondBorders__ | beyondbordersscotland.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Nairn Book & Arts Festival Inverness | @Nairn_Festival | nairnfestival.co.uk | |
| 29 Aug to 1 Sep 2024 | Islay Book Festival | @islaybookfest | islaybookfestival.co.uk | |
| SEPTEMBER | TBC 2024 | Wee Mac Arran Children's Book Festival | weemacarran.scot | |
| TBC 2024 | Outwith Festival Dunfermline | @outwithfestival #weareoutwith | outwithfestival.co.uk | |
| 13 - 15 2024 | Bloody Scotland Scotland's international crime writing festival, Stirling | @BloodyScotland #bloodyscotland | bloodyscotland.com | |
| TBC 2024 | St Duthac Book & Arts Festival Tain, Easter Ross Peninsula | stduthacbookfest.com | ||
| TBC 2024 | WayWORD Festival Aberdeen (online) | @waywordabdn | Waywordfestival.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Tidelines Irvine, North Ayrshire | @TidelinesFest | tidelinesbookfestival.com | |
| 20 - 29 Sept 2024 | Findhorn Bay Festival Moray | @findhornbayarts | findhornbayfestival.com | |
| 27 Sep to 6 Oct | Wigtown Book Festival (hybrid event) Scotland's national book town's literary festival | @WigtownBookFest #wigtown | wigtownbookfestival.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Ness Book Fest Inverness | @NessBookFest1 | nessbookfest.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Bookends Benderloch, Oban | Facebook page | ||
| OCTOBER | TBC 2024 | The Words of War Book Festival @ Black Watch Castle and Museum, Perth | @museumbw | Webpage |
| TBC 2024 | Libraries Week | @librariesweek | librariesweek.org.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Bookmark Book Festival, Blairgowrie | @bookmarkblair | bookmarkblair.com | |
| 10 - 13 2024 | Berwick Literary Festival Northumberland | @BerwickLitFest | berwickliteraryfestival.com | |
| TBC 2024 | Portobello Book Festival @ Portobello Library Edinburgh | @PortyBookFest | portobellobookfestival.com | |
| 13 - 29 2023 | Scottish International Storytelling Festival Edinburgh | @ScotStoryCentre | sisf.org.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Tobermory Book Festival | @TobermoryBookF1 | Westoversea.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Orkney Storytelling Festival | @OrkneyStoF | orkneystorytellingfestival.co.uk | |
| TBC 2024 | Faclan: The Hebridean Book Festival An Lanntair, Stornoway | @anlanntair | Website | |
| NOVEMBER | TBC 2024 | Wordplay Shetland Arts' annual book festival | @ShetlandArts | www.shetlandarts.org |
| 10 - 12 2023 | A Write Highland Hoolie! Mallaig's Book Festival | @WriteHoolie | a-write-highland-hoolie.com | |
| 13 Nov 2023 | Robert Louis Stevenson Day Annual week of events in Edinburgh and online in run up to RLS' birthday on 13 Nov | #RLSDay | ||
| 13 - 19 2023 | Book Week Scotland | @BookWeekScot | bookweekscotland.com | |
| 24 - 26 2023 | Push The Boat Out Edinburgh's International Poetry Festival | @PTBOpoetry | pushtheboatout.org | |
| 25 2023 | Tarbert Book Festival Argyll | @TarbertBookFest | tarbertbookfestival.org | |
| 25 - 26 2023 | Cove and Kilcreggan Book Festival Argyll & Bute | @coveburghhall | coveburghhall.org.uk |