Editor’s picks: 6 Cultural festivals to attend this summer and autumn

Festivals are a wonderful opportunity to really submerge yourself in other worlds, away from your day-to-day. Since they usually last a few days, festivals offer plenty of time to share ideas with other like-minded people. It often goes under the radar, but at most music festivals they have book tents and culture corners with some of the world's most renowned writers — a great hack to get to have some one-on-one time with your favourite author, artist or musician. Here we look at Lost Village Festival in Lincolnshire UK, Queen’s Park Book Festival in London, Rencontres d’Arles in France, Brontë Festival in the Haworth, St I’ves Festival in Cornwall and Cheltenham Literature Festival in Cheltenham.

1. Queen’s Park Book Festival: Award-winning authors and verdant surroundings

QPBF 2022. Photo 1 - Howard Jacobson, John Mullan; Photo 2 - Robert Harris; Photo 3 - Susie Boyt, Gwendoline Riley, Claire Armitstead

Queen’s Park is one of London’s hidden gems and the Queen’s Park Book Festival is a special event. Centred on a 30-acre park surrounded by beautiful Victorian homes, they are the only book festival in London to be held solely in a public park surrounded by stunning history and home to many poets and authors. Running September 2-3, they have renowned authors attending. Andria Zafirakou will be there with her book ‘Lessons in Life: what we can all learn from the World’s Best Teachers’ which was the winner of the Global Teacher Prize. Nick Laird and Matthew Hollis will also be revealing their new poetry collections and there will be an important conversation around the NHS at 75, asking the question: How will healthcare look in the next decades?

 

Queen’s Park Book Festival

Queen’s Park, northwest London, UK

September 2-3, 2023

2. Lost Village Festival: Music, learning and fun activities

Lost Village is most famous for its music, but what people don’t always know is that it has an entire section dedicated to learning at its ‘Institute of Curious Minds’. Running from August 24-27, there will be talks, debates, interviews, workshops and time to ask questions to authors and musicians. It’s a place where curiosity is king and no stone goes unturned. There are also many activities like wild swimming, yoga and meditation classes you can take part in. There’s something for everyone, a great place to just immerse yourself in the weird and wonderful. 

 

Lost Village Festival

Norton Disney, Lincolnshire, UK

August 24- August 27

3. Rencontres d'Arles: The first international festival of Photography

The Rencontres d’Arles is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette. The festival has an international reputation for showing off never-seen-before photographs, making it an incredibly exciting spot for photography lovers. Running until September 24, there’s plenty of time to check out the festival which describes itself as “capturing consciousness.” They want to make us aware of the state of the world and this year they are launching an exploration of the Arlesian territory and its ecosystem. Scientists, thinkers, artists and researchers all get together to try and think of solutions.