With tickets now on sale and selling fast for this year’s Essar Chester Literature Festival, Chester Performs are keen to highlight the Family Friendly events taking place from October 13-27.
With under 12s able to attend events for free when accompanied by an adult, the festival is confident of attracting a family audience to many events.
Frank Cottrell Boyce, author of the best-selling Millions and the new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang series, will be in Chester on October 14 to share the latest adventures of everybody’s favourite car – as it jets off to the moon.
In this one-off event, Frank will delight audiences young and old alike, as he takes Chitty into the 21st century.
As well as a successful and award-winning writer, Frank is an acclaimed scriptwriter and, along with Danny Boyle, devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics.
Punmeister and all-round funny man Tim Vine chortles his way into Chester on Saturday, October 26 for an evening of family friendly jokes and general comedic mayhem.
Sharing gags and games from his brand new book, The Bumper Book Of Silliness, Tim’s evening in Chester is suitable for all ages and all sizes of funny bones.
During half-term week, on October 23 at 4pm, families can let their creative juices flow in the company of poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan and cartoonist Tony Husband.
In a workshop for all the family, Ian and Tony will give one-to-one tips on how to draw cartoons and write funny poems.
The emphasis will be on fun as everyone in the workshop takes part in A Grand Cartoon-in & Poem relay race.
Places on the workshop are limited, but that evening, more laughter is guaranteed as the creative pair host a larger evening show, also suitable for anyone, in which they will interact with the audience to come up with a very personal history of Chester, written and illustrated there and then.
Cricket loving families will be delighted with the chance to hear from legendary commentator Henry Blofield on October 22.
He will share many hilarious anecdotes and personal stories from his time in the Test Match Special commentary box.
On October 16, Springwatch favourite, Kate Humble will talk about giving up her life in London and buying a farm in Wales as she shares stories from her brand new autobiography, Humble by Nature.
Older children aged 12 plus, as well as adults, will be enthralled by the storytelling of Dan Morden in A Love Like Salt on October 22.
Morden is determined to move away from the feeling that storytelling is for little children and the show taps into an old oral tradition.
Telling ancient stories such as King Lear, Morden and his musical accompanists, The Devil’s Violin, reinvent the art of storytelling for the 21st century.
Fans of The Simpsons are also in for a treat, on October 21 especially if they happen to like numbers.
Best-selling popular science writer Simon Singh will be talking about his new book, The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, which investigates the maths that has been hidden in the popular series since episode one – according to Singh The Simpsons contains enough sophisticated mathematics to form a degree.
He will be revealing how the maths that infiltrates America’s best loved TV family is both accessible and funny.
Festivals manager Paul Lavin said: “During the Essar Chester Literature Festival, as you can see, we’ve made a concerted effort to include events that will appeal to families and with the continuation of our policy of giving under 12s free tickets when accompanied by an adult I’m sure there will be a massive take-up.
“2013 has been such a fantastic year for Chester Performs – this summer has seen the huge success of our new Family Saturday events at the Roman Amphitheatre; Moonlight Flicks, our outdoor cinema, catered for young and old alike; and it was fantastic to see so many children at our Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre productions this year.
“With a new festival aimed at children and young people in the offing for February 2014, we aim to continue this trend next year too.
“We want families to be able to continue to experience great culture and creative fun in Chester.”
