Derby Book Festival’s Book Fairies have landed

Derby Book Festival are excited to announce they are joining the ‘Book Fairy’ trend, offering lucky individuals the chance to find free books hidden around Derbyshire.  All the books will be featured at their Summer Festival, which will be held from 23 May – 1 June in venues across the city.

Derby Book Festival is a registered charity and funded by Arts Council England and the University of Derby with sponsorship from local businesses and individuals.  There are two Festivals each year in late May and mid November.

The first Book Fairy drop begins on Monday 12 May and continues each day until the end of the Festival.  Clues will be released each day to help people identify the location of the book and these will be shared on the Festival’s Instagram and Facebook stories, including a photograph of the book in its hiding place, which is usually in public view.

The books will be wrapped by our “fairies” with a distinctive ribbon and sticker and will include a copy of the Derby Book Festival programme.  Some books will also have the bonus of containing two free tickets to the event featuring the book.

Some of the books that will be included in the Book Fairy drop and whose authors will be attending the festival include: One Small Step: The Incredible Story of Parkrun by Paul Sinton-Hewitt (sponsored by Pennine Healthcare), British Rail by the country’s foremost railway historian, Christian Wolmar, Hidden Portraits: The Untold Stories of Six Women Who Loved Picasso (sponsored by Boolers) by Sue Roe and  The Inventor’s Workshop by Ruth Amos, a wonderful children’s story to be featured at the Museum of Making.

Sian Hoyle, Derby Book Festival Director said: “Book Fairies is a new initiative for us and we hope it will be a fun way to raise awareness of the Festival, encourage new people to attend and also give away free copies of some of the wonderful books that will be featured at our Summer Festival.  We will be giving hints across our socials about the locations of the chosen book of the day.”

Keep up to date with our ‘Book Fairies’ on our Instagram and Facebook page @derbybookfestival

Further details of the Festival events are available on the Festival’s website where tickets can also be bought:  https://www.derbybookfestival.co.uk/whats-on/events

Derby Book Festival’s Summer Festival will be held from 23 May – 1 June 2025, will include around 70 events for all the family as well as a series of writing workshops to support local writers. The full programme is now available with tickets on sale for all events, which will be held in venues across the city, including Artcore, Derby College, Derby Libraries, Derby Theatre, Electric Daisy, Landau Forte College, the Museum of Making and QUAD.

You can find more information about the Festival at www.derbybookfestival.co.uk