Hello booklovers, It’s the seventh of December already! Behind today’s Advent door we have one of our most beautiful and much loved carols, ‘Silent Night’. Our wonderful committee member and festival volunteer Hannah offers a literary twist on this peaceful tune. Hannah writes… ‘Silent Night has always been a favourite carol of mine. Its beauty […]

Hello booklovers, On day 6 of Advent we turn to a more traditional and perhaps lesser known carol. Visitor to the book festival Andrew has chosen to write about a carol from his childhood, ‘Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar’. Andrew writes… ‘Back in the dark and distant seventies a new science teacher arrived at […]

Hello booklovers, I very much hope that you are enjoying the musical treats brought to you by our ‘carol a day’ advent calendar. Our contribution for December the 4th comes from another brilliant member of the Felixstowe Book Festival committee, Birgit, who has picked ‘O Christmas Tree’ as her choice of carol. Birgit writes… ‘Over […]

Hello booklovers, On day three of our advent celebration we have Viv, another fab committee member, bringing us ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. Viv writes… ‘This is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 movie ‘Meet me in St Louis’. Judy Garland sings the song to her young […]

Hello booklovers, Today marks my own contribution to our advent calendar, my festive choice being ‘The Sussex Carol’. ‘On Christmas Night all Christians sing…’ When I was small, a favourite Christmas film of mine was an animation of The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter, which I would annually watch with my grandma. The film starts with […]

Hello booklovers, Advent has arrived, as has the Felixstowe Book Festival advent calendar… let the excitement commence! To begin our ‘carol-a-day’ celebrations, Jan, one of our wonderful committee members, brings us In the Bleak Midwinter.  Jan writes… In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan Earth stood hard as iron Water like a stone Snow had […]

Hello booklovers, The season to be jolly and joyous is nearly upon us. I don’t know about you, but I am certainly thinking “Where on earth did November go?!”. When I reflect on what reminds me of Christmas I am always drawn to two things: books and music. Every year on the first of December […]

Hello booklovers, The fourth Thursday in November has arrived and it is time to wish our friends across the pond a very happy Thanksgiving! A North American holiday, Thanksgiving has come to symbolise the importance of home and the importance of family, marked by the preparation and consumption of a rather delicious meal. Thanksgiving has […]

Hello-ooooooo booklovers, October the 31st has arrived. Across the nation pumpkins will be carved, bonfires lit and sweets distributed to small visiting witches and wizards and other such spooky folk. According to folklore, Halloween is the night where the barrier between the supernatural world and the land of the living is at its thinnest – […]