Greater Morpeth Development Trust, in partnership with Northumberland Libraries, will host our 4th Morpeth Book Festival on Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 March 2026. Its theme celebrates the transformative power of storytelling, exploring how words shape our world and connect us to one another. The festival will be held at Morpeth Rugby Club, The Chantry, St George’s United Reformed Church and Morpeth Library and opened by our Patron, Mari Hannah.

E-tickets are available on Ticketsource while physical tickets are available at the Chantry (Tourist Information Centre)

Introduction from our Patron Mari Hannah

Hello, everyone.  I’m very excited to tell you that the wonderful Morpeth Book Festival will be back on Saturday  21 and Sunday 22 March 2026.  This celebratory weekend (a must in my diary every year), brings writers and readers of all ages together, with the support of local businesses, Greater Morpeth Development Trust and Northumberland Libraries.  Since its inaugural event, it has been a joy to watch the festival become an important part of the regional book festival calendar, showcasing established and exciting new voices to entertain you with fascinating talks and the inside track on their journeys to publication and beyond.  As festival patron, I am confident that whatever your taste in books, our director Frank Rescigno, our programming committee and brilliant volunteers have you covered.  Save the dates!  We’d love to see you there.   Mari Hannah – Patron of Morpeth Book Festival

Introduction from GMDT’s Chairperson and Arts & Culture Director Frank Rescigno

At the conclusion of our 3rd Morpeth Book Festival in March 2025, our organising team wondered if we would ever be able to match or even better, the quality of authors who had travelled to our town to take part in the event. Well, I am confident enough to say that we believe we have done that with the line-up of writers who will be joining us to enthral and entertain you in March 2026.  In the few short years since we first dipped our toe into the book festival waters so to speak, we have come such a long, long way in establishing a reputation as a premier event of its kind, not just in Northumberland but across the whole of the North East region.  In that time national, international and local authors have spoken at our festival, and, what is so pleasing to us, is that several of them have asked if they could again take part in the event – as some will do so in 2026. Top crime and thriller authors, biographers, fiction and non-fiction writers will visit Morpeth and we are truly indebted to all of them.  We are a very small organising team, but we are blessed to have wonderful volunteers without whom we simply just would not be able to stage the event.  Equally, we are indebted to local businesses who have so generously agreed to sponsor and support Morpeth Book Festival 2026, as well as to St George’s United Reformed Church for again allowing us to use their wonderful church in which to stage so many of our events. It promises to be a great weekend and we hope to see you there!   Frank Rescigno – Director of Morpeth Book Festival