5TH EDITION OF IW STORY FESTIVAL CELEBRATED IN STYLE

With over 1,000 tickets sold, last week saw the return of the annual Isle of Wight Story Festival as it celebrated its 5th anniversary over the February half term. Aiming to inspire children and young people, the IW Story Festival brought best-selling authors to the Island and hosted a variety of hands-on workshops. Mock the Week star Alasdair Beckett King was among the headliners that ventured across the Solent to Newport’s Quay Arts. Speaking about his children’s detective series, Montgomery Bonbon, Alasdair used his stand-up comedy skills to entertain the audience. Another popular name at the festival was Kes Gray, the best-selling author behind Oi Frog. In his first public event and book signing in four years, Kes showed off his “combat biscuits” and taught children how to be a Jedi master. Horsebox Theatre – with a sold-out performance of Vincent and the Mermaids – brought Island author Jules Marriner’s book to life on the first day of the festival. Other guests on Thursday (15th February) included Mick Smith, who ran a song-writing workshop, Tony Trowbridge, with a sold out talk on graffiti art and Kate Weston, talking about her young adult novel Murder on a School Night. Day 2 of the IW Story Festival featured an in-depth talk about the making of the legendary Monty Python films. On stage was Julian Doyle, who spoke about his part in the filmmaking, which even involved appearing in the final scene of Holy Grail. A number of cut scenes were shown and the art of editing a film was discussed in the conversation. Interviewing Julian in the Anthony Minghella Theatre was James Clarke, a BAFTA longlisted filmmaker, who had run a screenwriting session earlier in the day. Speaking about his appearance at the festival, James said:

“Being invited to be a part of the Isle of Wight Story Festival was really special. The festival’s commitment to encouraging and supporting children and young people in their excitement for stories and creativity is, I think, needed now more than ever.”

Iconic poet John Hegley sang funny songs on his ukulele whilst the Island-based Neal Layton completed illustrations from behind. The pair collaborated on the 2011 children’s book Stanley’s Stick and Neal even had his dog alongside him during the book signing. Festival favourite Kieran Larwood also appeared on Friday (16th February) whilst in the theatre, Gerald Dickens – the great great grandson of Charles Dickens – read aloud the winning stories by year 5 students as part of an Island-wide writing competition. Also present at the Dickens award ceremony was High Sheriff Dawn Haigh-Thomas, Helen McNeill from Hovertravel and Sarah Walton from Cowes Enterprise College. The winner won a stack of books that matched their own height. Isle of Wight musician and author Simon Whitworth presented his debut novel, Jessie Granton and the Invisible Steps. Headlining the final day of the festival was Francesca Simon, the creator of the million-selling Horrid Henry books, as she talked about her latest children’s book, Two Terrible Vikings. Francesca detailed her Anglo-Saxon studies at university and spoke about how she created the characters of Horrid Henry, before taking questions from the audience. Having added a session after the initial event sold out, Isadora Moon author Harriet Muncaster had the audience sketching alongside her as she showed how to draw her classic characters. She brought glittery miniature models of Isadora’s world, all in the iconic pink and black that hallmarks her books. Other people that appeared on Saturday (17th February) include Meg Hewison, Nazneen Ahmed Pathak and Russ Sheath. Cowes bookshop Medina Books had a pop up bookshop at the festival and Red Funnel’s “Ted Funnel” made an appearance on Saturday. Alongside many guest speakers, a variety of workshops took place at the festival including Indian Dancing with the Asian Culture Club, Sarah Docker running an illustration masterclass, model maker Creaturama and musical storytelling with Isabel Norwood. The IW Story Festival will return next February, with dates and a line-up to be announced soon.