Maidenhead’s Big Read festival

Weekend Event of 2 & 3 March

Step Back in Time for an adventure through the ages with Maidenhead's Big Read Book festival! Over last weekend of 2-3 March, the thrill of time travel experience with events for families at Maidenhead Library, and some volunteers dressed up as characters from the past! Along the way, children and adults listened to the Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown, discovered what happened at White Waltham Airfield in World War II with author Iszi Lawrence, sailed along The Nile in Ancient Egypt with Rob Lloyd-Jones, and some even encountered a dinosaur with acclaimed local poet and author Simon Mole. Patrice Lawrence shared with us the experiences of her Windrush generation. Authors Josh Lacey, Kate Poels and Ruth Burgess also shared their books with the children.

Once Upon a Bus, parked by the Maidenhead Heritage Centre, entertained visiting audiences with some brand new interactive stories created for the event, such as the ‘Three Witches’ and ‘The Dinosaurs’.

Maidenhead's Heritage Centre and Maidenhead Archaeological & Historical Society both held wonderful fun activities set up for the children in the library, including VR headsets for immersive experiences in prehistoric caves. Children enjoyed a book trail set up within the Library, and many dressed up with historic costumes and accessories, photographed by their parents. The Little Bookshop in Cookham set up a pop-up shop in the Library for selling books and for book signings.

It was good to witness the numerous interactive sessions, and wonderful to see children excited by books and reading”. The footfall in the Library over the weekend was 3940 (Last year 2902), with book borrowings totalling 1444 (last year 1157). The number of new registrations at the Library of 28 readers has been similar to last year’s. These demonstrate the value of these unique festivals to the local Community.

It is thanks to generous grants received from various local sponsors including Oakwood Estates.

This has been the sixth unique annual festival held in Maidenhead. It was a delight to witness the buzz created in the library, with a line-up of popular and well known authors, poets and illustrators. The aim has been to spread a love of reading, and it was good to witness local families meeting these presenters in person, inspiring them and their children! It certainly offered enjoyable and memorable experiences for all the children who came along.

The weekend has been part of a longer festival, 23 February – 8 March, which additionally involved 23 authors visiting 27 schools in and around Maidenhead.