The North’s longest-running literary festival returns to Ilkley  this October for 17 days of star-studded events, featuring national treasures and screen legends.

The line-up for the UK’s second-oldest literary festival has officially been unveiled, bringing a stellar gathering of household names, novelists, poets, politicians, and TV personalities to Yorkshire this autumn.

The Ilkley Literature Festival 2026 will run across 17 packed days from October 2nd to October 18th, featuring headline appearances from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, award-winning novelist Kate Atkinson, children’s icon Dame Jacqueline Wilson, TV chef Si King, and Olympic swimming champ Mark Foster.

Opening the festival this year is Andrew Davies – the master screen adaptor behind House of Cards, Pride & Prejudice, and Bridget Jones – who turns his razor-sharp pen on himself to present his brand new memoir, An Unsuitable Boy.

The opening weekend also sees Labour Peer Dame Margaret Hodge discussing five decades in public life with her memoir, Battleaxe, alongside Afghan journalist Zahra Joya sharing her fight for women’s rights in The Vanishing Girl of Kabul.

Actress Rachael Stirling will also take to the stage to reflect on her iconic mother, Diana Rigg, sharing personal memories from a new memoir, while five-time Olympian and six-time World Champion swimmer Mark Foster will discuss his moving book My Double Life.

The Ilkley Literature Festival runs from Friday 2nd to Sunday 18th October 2026. General ticket sales open on Tuesday 25th August 2026. You can view the full schedule and book tickets at:
ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk