Cheltenham Literature Festival has closed out its 75th year with a trip to Downing Street.
Culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, hosted a reception for Cheltenham Festivals staff on Tuesday 15 October 2024 to mark its milestone year and acknowledge the impact the festival has had on both the literary and cultural industry and the community.
She said: ‘It was an honour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Cheltenham Literature Festival — the longest running of its kind in the world.
'The festival has played a vital role in promoting the diversity of thought and has acted as a champion for writers, thinkers and new talent. I am grateful to have been a part of marking this incredible milestone and celebrating the strength of the UK literature and publishing industry.'
In his speech at the event, Cheltenham Festivals co-CEO Ian George described access to culture as a human right — ‘an intrinsic part of what defines us' — and said that the government, business, industry, grant-makers and philanthropists all have a collective responsibility to 'secure not only the next 75 years of Cheltenham Literature Festival, but also the next 75 years of the arts for everyone’.
The reception featured three festival-inspired pop-up events, including a panel discussion on the Literature Festival's place in the publishing industry, chaired by journalist Julia Wheeler and featuring historian and author, Peter Frankopan.
And representing the VOICEBOX programme was Monika Radojevic, who read from her debut collection on the VOICEBOX stage back in 2021 and has featured on the programme every year since; journalist Hana Walker-Brown; and mental health campaigner Sophia Kaur Badhan, who shared how VOICEBOX helps to provide a platform for the stories that matter to young people — and hope for the future.
The 75th Cheltenham Literature Festival took place between Friday 4 and Sunday 13 October 2024 and saw over 500 speakers come to Cheltenham over 10 days, with over 100,000 ticketholders and 12,500 school children visiting the festival village at Montpellier Gardens.
One of the highlights of this year's event was national treasure and Cheltenham Literature Festival president, Dame Judi Dench, taking to the stage at The Forum on Saturday 5 October 2024.
In her conversation with Brendan O’Hea, Judi said: 'The arts are very important, not just to me when I was a child, but to every child.
'People have been inspired by having stories read to them... the arts are so important to us all, especially to young people.'
Head of programming for Cheltenham Literature Festival, Nicola Tuxworth, added: 'More than ever, this year’s festival has shown the enduring power of words and storytelling to shape our future and the world around us.
'The arts are central to sparking people’s curiosity in something, whether that’s a thought, a conversation or an entire story. Our mission is to bring together a vibrant, nuanced and broad experience of literature to our audiences, and as we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we are reminded of the power of reading to inspire the next generation of writers. Here's to the next 75!'
