Crossing The Tees, Teesside’s biggest literary festival returns 11-17 June.
This year’s programme is the work of the festival’s first ever dedicated coordinator Kirsten Luckins and experienced library teams from across all five Tees Valley boroughs. Lovers of both reading and writing can look forward to a lively variety of events both in-person, and online.
The festival launches on Saturday 11 June with Into the Wild Blue Sea with Kate Fox, a short reading of uplifting poetry followed by a celebratory communal dip on Redcar beach – happy paddlers and full-on swimmers equally welcome! The day continues with a chance to chat to Kate over a cuppa and join her in a writing workshop, or move on to an eclectic afternoon at Base Camp Boro where people can make Junk Journals, attend a Zoom watch party with novelist Katie Hale, and mingle at Apocalypse How, Apocalypse When, the launch of a gorgeous photobook of Teesside’s post-industrial landscape.
Launch day continues as festival goers are invited into ARC’s cinema for We Hope This Finds You Well, the exclusive premiere of A Time Capsule of Hopes, a short film created by Filmmakers in Residence Laura Degnan and Chris Bradburn. This is followed by a special screening of classic feel-good book adaptation, The Princess Bride – and this is all just day one!
Watch out for many more innovations and highlights – for example, crime fiction fans are invited to board the Teesside Princess River Cruise for The Plot Is Murder on the Tees, a murder mystery by Tall Tales Mysteries that also includes welcome drinks and afternoon tea. If that wasn’t already a perfect Sunday outing, tickets also include free entry to Bodies in the Library, an evening of readings and conversation with members of the Northern Crime Writers Syndicate taking place in Stockton Library.
The festival wraps up with An Evening with Ian McMillan and Lucy Holden, two authors at either side of the generational divide using memoir to look back and laugh at their very different experiences of life.
To make sure that the festival is accessible to everyone there are three price bands for every event with prices as low as £3. There are also free events taking place every day – try watching bite-sized readings and author conversations on the Festival YouTube channel, or attending a Walking Library.