Lancaster Litfest: Children's Festival

The local economy

The festival created good-quality paid opportunities for creatives and authors, including many who live locally. It also encouraged visitors to Lancaster city centre, particularly children and young families, who contribute to the local economy by using facilities including cafes and shops, particularly at our partner venues such as the Storey. The festival also used its Reader in Residence drop-in sessions to encourage reading for enjoyment. There is a huge economic cost attached to insufficient literary skills (£830m per year group), so by encouraging reading for pleasure Litfest has contributed to enabling children to improve their literacy skills and long-term economic effectiveness.

Volunteering, jobs & education

Litfest 2025 was run and co-ordinated by a team of brilliant volunteers, including a 13-person volunteer board and ad-hoc event volunteers. Our fantastic event volunteers are hugely important to Litfest's ongoing success, and in return they have gained relevant skills for future careers, networking opportunities, a sense of community and reduced social isolation.

Arts, culture & heritage

Our mini-festival brought authors, illustrators and creatives to Lancaster in a full weekend of amazing activities. We engaged children of all ages with with fun, enriching activities to help to foster a lifelong love of reading and the arts.

Activity, health and leisure

The festival gave children the chance to engage in reading and illustration in their leisure time, rather than as part of compulsory education. Children were excited to meet real-life authors and to get stuck in with the workshops and activities. The festival encouraged physical activity too, with a well-received outdoor event (the Lancaster Lore Story Hunt) and two school trips to RSPB Leighton Moss accompanied by nature writer Amy-Jane Beer.