Solihull BookFest

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Busy Parents Network brings stories to your doorstep

When Busy Parents Network began in 2013, our aim was to organise affordable arts events for families living in and around Birmingham. In just a few years we have grown into a multiple award-winning not-for-profit social enterprise that has ignited a shared passion in over 15,000 families across the region who attend events and communicate with us on a regular basis. Our first major arts event – Bournville BookFest - was held five years ago after winning £2,000 in a competition run by Bournville Village Trust. It was designed from a desire to host a children’s book festival that was unstuffy and accessible to all, but where the standard of programme would be really high. We believe in giving children the best - and that when you do that, children will respond. Originally, the festival was a free one-day event to which an astounding 1,000 people turned up to take part. Following its success, we applied for funding from Arts Council England and four more Bournville BookFests have followed – each year growing in size, scale and ambition.

Bournville BookFest 2018 brought together around 10,000 youngsters, authors, illustrators, artists and storytellers. The 10-day festival featured some of Britain's best-loved writers including Michael Rosen and Nick Sharratt, alongside emerging talent, including the comic singer Nick Cope, author Emer Stamp and Kate Pankhurst. Families were treated to boxing tips from Birmingham’s poet laureate Matt Windle. There was hilarious verse from author A.F. Harrold and historical drama with Lucy Worsley. And children made some awesome masks with theatrical mask-maker Craig Denston. Ben Faulks - CBeebies’ Mr Bloom - introduced his new picture book to the delight of fans, both young and old. More than 120 events took place in 20 different venues across the city, putting amazing storytelling shows within easy reach of thousands of families.

Now, for 2019, we’ve created three sister events, Solihull BookFest, Sutton BookFest and Barnt Green BookFest in order to support our vision to see every child in Birmingham and surrounding area have a quality BookFest on their doorstep, We can’t wait to bring families together in order to enjoy stories and memory making.

We are very proud of what we have achieved and, as the only children’s book festival in the UK to run a specialist track for children with disabilities and additional needs, we can safely say we offer something for all and this, to us, is paramount.

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