Our mission at Monty Lit Fest is simple: to bring people together for a weekend of books, stories and fun. And judging by the buzz in Montgomery this weekend, it looks like we came close to mission accomplished.
Thank you to everyone who came along to help make our 2026 Festival a weekend to remember. Our heads are reeling with so many memorable moments: our fabulous authors and interviewers; great audiences; music and art; not one but two Festival bookshops. The sun shone and readers and book lovers of all ages were able to soak up the atmosphere around Montgomery, immersing themselves in the world of words – and buying more books and eating more cake that we probably should have.
And so many brilliant sessions to that will live long in the memory:
We found out from Paul Burrell why electric kettles play a very special role in royal palaces – and why he remains optimistic about the future of the monarchy.
We talked all things Manics with Keith Cameron and Rhys Mwyn, and pitted out wits against Marcus Berkmann in another brilliant Saturday Night Quiz (and, yes, we were robbed…).
We loved hearing from Sophie Hannah about her latest work and celebrated short stories and the short form novel with Cynan Jones and Anthony Shapland.
We debated the future of farming and food with Minette Batters and looked at how we can become more landsmart with Tom Heap.
We travelled along with Hafren with Sarah Chave, journeyed into the world of Welsh literature with Alex Johnson and explored the concept of cynefin with Carwyn Graves.
We met Adeola Dewis and Carwyn Jones, the presenter and producer of ITV ‘s Vanished Wales and loved hearing how they turn detective to track down the lost landmarks they feature in the programme.
We marvelled at the island story of Elizabeth O’Connor’s Whale Fall; talked all things Steffi with Siân Hughes, and shared stories of how animals really do heal us with Jay Griffiths.
We learnt so much about the art and importance of hedge laying with Richard Negus, and shared Adam Alexander’s passion for collecting and sharing seeds and what we can learn from other countries about local food production.
We sparked plenty of joy with a fascinating and colourful closing session in the company of two artistic icons, Dame Zandra Rhodes and Andrew Logan.
And we were delighted to continue our mission to inspire the next generation of readers at our Jill Kibble Monty Mini Fest. Running for a second year, again in partnership with Firefly Press, we enjoyed stories, drawing and so much fun with our brilliant storytellers and authors.
It takes more than a village to make Monty Lit Fest every year and we pay tribute to the very many people who helped us to achieve our mission of bringing everyone together again this year.
We’ll be back in 2027, so save the dates: 11th- 13th June.
See you then!