Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire is set to host a weekend of fantasy, history, and creativity on the 18th and 19th of October in 2025. This year’s Butser BookFest promises to be a vibrant celebration of literature, history, folklore, and fantasy, all within the remarkable landscape of the South Downs and an open-air experimental archaeology site.
Visitors will have the opportunity to step into a world where myth meets history and stories come to life among reconstructed ancient buildings. The festival invites readers, bestselling authors, families, and dreamers to immerse themselves in storytelling, poetry, and performance inspired by nature and myth.
Attendees can explore the Butser Ancient Farm and its various reconstructed buildings such as Roman villas, roundhouses, and Saxon meadhalls while listening to talks by bestselling authors including Conn Iggulden, Samantha Shannon, Elodie Harper, Amy Jeffs, and Lucy Holland. These authors will discuss the art of weaving history, myth, and magic into unforgettable tales. Fans can also meet their favorite authors at the roundhouse bookshop hosted by Waterstones.
The festival will also feature live storytelling, poetry, and performance, with Saxon skald Eorðen providing poetry and lyre music in ancient halls. There will also be atmospheric readings by poets and performers inspired by nature and folklore.
Butser BookFest 2025 will offer creative workshops and hands-on activities, such as immersive writing and storytelling workshops, lino-print bookmark crafting, archery, and the Forgotten Fleece Tales exhibition. Families can also enjoy engaging children’s sessions and workshops, including a writing workshop led by award-winning author Angela McAllister and a poetry and drawing session hosted by bestselling children’s writer Smriti Halls.
Festival founder and organiser Sofie Kitts expressed her excitement, stating, “Nothing brings historically inspired fantasy and fiction, folklore, and nature writing to life quite like celebrating it in a setting such as ours, surrounded by the rolling South Downs and thatched roofs of Saxon meadhalls and ancient roundhouses.”
She added, “We are so fortunate to regularly connect with so many booklovers, artists, and writers, and we’re thrilled to bring them together in a venue like no other literary festival takes place with such a diverse and fascinating program of workshops, talks, and more.”
Butser Book Festival is more than just a celebration of books; it’s an opportunity to experience the magic of stories, ancient and new, in an inspiring setting. It is the perfect weekend for families, bookworms, craft-lovers, and writers alike.
Tickets for the festival can be purchased on the Butser Ancient Farm website, along with booking for in-depth workshops and exploring the full program. Advance booking is highly recommended as spaces for workshops are limited.
For more information, please contact Sofie at Butser Ancient Farm via email at sofie@butserancientfarm.co.uk or by phone at 023 9259 8838. Further details can also be found on the festival’s website at https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/butser-literary-book-festival.
This news article is distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/.