Books in the Park festival returns to Beckenham Place Park on Saturday 25th April 2026, promising a packed day of author talks for adults and children, guided walks and writing workshops.
Authors appearing at the festival include LUCY STEEDS whose novel The Artist was named Waterstones Book of the Year. She is joined by HARRIET CONSTABLE, the international bestselling author of The Instrumentalist. They’ll discuss their debut novels with CLARE CHAMBERS, author of Sunday Times bestsellers Small Pleasures and Shy Creatures.
JAMES FOX shares his journey through Britain’s lost and vanishing trades, speaking to Travis Elborough about his Sunday Times bestseller Craftland, while JESSE BERNARD offers an intimate history of Black British music as he discusses his new book Escaping Babylon with Natasha Onwuemezi.
New York Times bestselling crime writer RUTH WARE will talk to Joy Kluver about The Woman in Suite 11, the sequel to her smash-hit thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 which was recently a major Netflix series starring Keira Knightley, while comedian and star of The Chase PAUL SINHA shares stories from his memoir One Sinha Lifetime with Karen McLeod.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the death of DAVID BOWIE, a former Beckenham resident, writers ALEXANDER LARMAN and SIMON GODDARD celebrate his life and legacy and discuss their books Lazarus and Bowie Odyssey 76 with Travis Elborough.
Children’s events include a fun-filled interactive session with ANNEMARIE ANANG based on her heartwarming picture book Dance Just Like So! and CHANTÉ TIMOTHY introduces Nova, star of Supa Nova, who’s on a mission to tackle the world's plastic problem.
Award-winning engineer ROMA AGRAWAL shows us How to Build a Chocolate Bridge, sharing the stories behind awe-inspiring inventions, and actor, author, and former CBeebies presenter CERRIE BURNELL will give a magical introduction to her middle-grade novel Wilder Than Midnight, exploring how fairy tales are made and sharing tips on writing your own.
For aspiring writers, the festival also offers poetry, flash fiction and fiction writing workshops for adults, led by writers HELEN BOWELL, ANNIE LYONS and GILL O’HALLORAN.
Adult events will take place in the Mansion, a Grade II listed building at the heart of the park, and children’s events will be held in the Homestead Education Centre, part of the park’s lovingly restored Homestead stables and courtyard.
Local independent Beckenham Bookshop is the festival’s bookseller and will run a pop-up bookshop in the Mansion throughout the day. Other activities confirmed include a Food and Farmers Market, on-the-spot Poetry Portraits, a sewing school, crafting sessions, nature walks led by Wild South London and more.
Festival director Frances Fuller said:
‘We are incredibly excited to be welcoming audiences to our third Books in the Park book festival. We hope to build on the amazing success of the last two years, with a fantastic programme of adult and children’s events, writing workshops, nature walks and so much more!’
Tickets go on sale Monday 2nd March and can be purchased at
Ticket Source
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/books-in-the-park and www.booksinthepark.org
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