Bath Children’s Literature Festival and Longleat have announced that they will be working in partnership for a second year, following on the success from last year’s collaboration between these two family favourites.
The 2026 children’s literature festival will run from Friday 26 September to Sunday 5 October, bringing some of the biggest and best-loved names in the world of children’s books to a family audience of thousands.
The collaboration between the UK’s largest stand-alone children’s book festival in Bath and Longleat in Wiltshire, this year marking its 60th anniversary of the opening of its Drive-Through Safari, gives both organisations the chance to create new, exciting projects and widen the audience for both, fostering among children and young people a love of reading and wildlife.
Bath Children’s Literature Festival was founded in 2007 by John and Gill McLay, who remain artistic directors and each year provides thousands of children with the opportunity to engage with their favourite storytellers and illustrators. Longleat has been welcoming visitors to its historic stately home since 1949 and families to its safari since 1966.
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Gill said: “We are so excited to be working with Longleat again to ensure that we deliver an accessible and inclusive festival that leaves a genuine and impactful legacy for children, young people and families.
"This year we are doing more than ever to try and increase this legacy and impact with more free books for state schools and a brand new Friends Scheme that offers parents, families and educators the support they need to instil a love of reading and unleash children’s imaginations.
"We want kids to have the freedom to explore their creativity and who better to help us deliver that than the original safari, our friends at Longleat.
Simon Askew, Longleat’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the Bath Children’s Literature Festival in this National Year of Reading and during our special birthday year.
“We are passionate about encouraging children and their families to have fun while learning, to use their imagination when exploring Longleat’s many and varied attractions and to discover the many different species, many of which are rare and endangered and are otherwise only seen in books.
“Books and reading are part of our rich heritage; Longleat House has seven libraries, 44,000 books and many first editions. Our current exhibition is Man-tigers and kangaroos: The Longleat Menageries brings to life from the pages of documents the history of wild animal encounters through the centuries.”
Members at Longleat and Friends of Bath Festivals will enjoy priority access to festival tickets.
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