As the organisers of Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival pack away the last remnants of this year’s event, Sue Briggs reflects on the successful festival and looks forward to next year.

“This was my first year as chair, and what a year it’s been. From the early stages of planning, when we didn’t know whether we would be able to hold an ‘in person’ event, to dealing with the ever-changing covid guidelines, it was quite a challenge. But it was a challenge which was met head on and with enormous good grace and resilience from our amazing team of more than 50 volunteers.

"Over the five days we welcomed more than 70 speakers, writers and thought leaders to the town, who spoke on a diverse and engaging range of topics, and we sold more than 6,500 event tickets over the five days. It’s hard to pick favourites, but a couple of my highlights were Martin Brown from Horrible Histories and the engaging Anne Sebba who told the story of Ethel Rosenberg.

"I’d like to thank everybody who worked so hard to stage the event. It really is an effort ‘by the community for the community’; it’s incredibly rewarding and I’d encourage anyone who’s got an interest in books, or simply loves to get involved in events, to sign up as a volunteer in the future. There are lots of different roles to choose from, maybe you’d like to chauffeur our star authors around, or greet people as they arrive in the marquee? Drop me an email if you’d like to find our more on suebriggs@budlitfest.org.uk

The dates for next year’s festival have already been announced, it will take place from Wednesday September 14 to Sunday 18 and we’re aiming to hold a weekend festival in the spring – so sign up to our newsletter to find out more. We also have a brilliant friends’ scheme which costs just £25 to join and means you get early access to tickets – very handy for when we have sell out events!

It just remains for me to say a final thank you to our wonderful audiences – we look forward to welcoming you all back next year. www.budlitfest.org.uk