In just under a week’s time, the BookTastic children’s book festival will begin a new chapter at the University of Bedfordshire Theatre, kicking off five days of action-packed events designed to inspire young readers from across the county and beyond.
From Monday 3 – Friday 7 July, the Festival will welcome some of the biggest names in children’s literature to Bedford for a fun-filled week of Q&As, book readings and interactive workshops – an exciting programme of live events that will be streamed to classrooms and homes across the country.
The idea behind the 2023 BookTastic Festival is that each session will be attended in person by only a small number of specially selected schools from Bedfordshire, with the aim of getting books into the hands of children who may have very limited access to reading material at home.
But it has taken a gargantuan effort from Festival volunteers and the generous support of Bedford residents and organisations to make this dream a reality.
The Festival organisers have come up against huge challenges in ensuring that the schools that are attending can get to and from the Festival, and every child in the audience can receive a copy of the book from the session they have attended.
The biggest obstacle has been the extortionate transport costs required to put on coaches for the children to simply travel across Bedford to the University and back.
Rachael Rogan, Founder of BookTastic, said: “Before we started arranging the transport for our chosen schools, we had no idea that we’d be looking at in the region of £25,000 to get the children there and back.
“We’re not talking a huge journey – 20 minutes at the very most – but if schools can’t afford to even cross the town, how can we expect them to even consider school trips in general?
“How much cultural enrichment is being lost, simply because schools don’t have the budget for these huge transport costs?”
Rachel said it was “heartbreaking” and their only option was to put a plea out on social media for donations to a Crowdfunder and “keep our fingers crossed for a miracle”.
And, says Rachel, a miracle is exactly what Bedford has pulled off.
“Our community has rallied, local organisations have stepped up to support us and Bedford has really got behind BookTastic.
“We are thrilled to say that 75% of our Crowdfunder was achieved through generous donations from the public, and local businesses and ward councillors have found the remainder of the funds for us so we can ensure that these children are able to attend and enjoy what could be a life-changing experience for them.
“We can’t thank the people of Bedford enough – all we can say is that we will make sure this opportunity to inspire these children, and share the magic of reading, is not wasted.”
While tickets for the live events have already been allocated, there is an opportunity for schools from across Bedfordshire and beyond to enjoy the full programme of events live from their own classroom with a live stream license.
The license is free for schools in Bedfordshire and all those outside the county who are members of the Times Tables Rock Stars or Schoolreaders programmes can receive a license for half price.
To find out more about BookTastic 2023, to sign up for a live stream license or to discover ways of supporting the Festival, visit booktastic.org.uk.
To purchase any of the books in the 2023 programme, visit uk.bookshop.org/shop/booktastickids – all proceeds go directly to the not-for-profit organisation which is run entirely by volunteers.
