The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2026
***Important news***
Due to circumstances beyond their control, the dates of The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2026 will be slightly different.
Routinely, the festival has always been in the week including Daphne du Maurier’s birthday on 13th May.
In 2026, the festival dates will be one week earlier than usual, and so will be from Friday 1st until Saturday 9th May 2026.
Please make a note of this in your diaries and book your accomodation early, as the new dates include a bank holiday, which is likely to mean that there will be more people in Fowey that usual during Festval week.
********
Please Support for the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival
Many of you will be aware that Literary Festivals all over the country are having a difficult time financially. This is clearly a sign of the times and the underlying feeling of a lack of security in the country and the wider world. It is at times of insecurity that we need to be able to enjoy small treats and to invest in things that take our minds off our worries. So, Literary Festivals are a much-needed part of our lives, particularly at the moment.
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival is being affected financially just as much as many others across the country. Whether you volunteer with the Festival, have taken out a Friends membership, or contributed to the Festival's ongoing fundraising campaign, all of this helps to stage the Festival and to the extremely important continuation of the schools' literary programme.
Here at the Daphne du Maurier website, we ask you if you could make a small donation to help the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival at this difficult time. It is really straightforward; you just need to click on this link and give whatever you feel you can.
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/TKCXWYYDQVVQS/checkout/4GR7YM4MQ2IOZYE7DRU3OKCI?src=webqr
Your Support means a great deal, thank you.
********
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Adult Short Story Competition 2025
Earlier in the year, we told you about the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Adult Short Story Competition 2025, which this year had as its theme – Making Waves. The Festival received an incredible number of entries, and judging commenced. Please click here to read more: https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=1298&nc=1
**********
The Du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Competition for Young Writers and Artists 2025
In the Spring, we told you about the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Competition for Young Writers and Artists 2025. We can now bring you up to date on how this year's event went. Please click here to read more: https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=1297&nc=1
*********
How to Become a Friend of the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 takes place from 9th – 17th May. Tickets for the lineup of festival events will be on sale from mid-March.
If you would like to become a Friend, you will be able to enjoy a number of benefits at this year’s Festival.
There are two choices of membership:
Bronze Friend - £30 per year
• 5% discount on tickets purchased for events organised by the Festival and held in the membership year starting 1st June, 2024, expiring 31st May, 2025. Maximum discounted tickets: 2 per event
• Priority booking ahead of public booking.
• Priority seating where available.
• Advance notice of programme content.
• Regular e-newsletters throughout the year.
• Priority invitations to one-off events throughout the year.
Bronze Friends memberships are annual subscriptions that will auto-renew each year by default. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can deactivate this function in your Friends membership account settings.
Silver Friend - £60 per year
• 10% discount on tickets purchased for events organised by the Festival and held in the membership year starting 1st June, 2024, expiring 31st May, 2025. Maximum discounted tickets: 2 per event
• Priority booking ahead of public booking
• Priority seating where available
• Advance notice of programme content
• Regular e-newsletters throughout the year.
• Priority invitations to one-off events throughout the year.
Silver Friends memberships are annual subscriptions that will auto-renew each year by default. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can deactivate this function in your Friends membership account settings.
It couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is to go to the festival website here: https://www.foweyfestival.com/friends/
Becoming a Friend is a great way to support the Festival.
**********
Exciting News From Fowey Festival – November 2024
We have exciting news from the Fowey Festival. Here is the statement that they have shared with us all this week -
We are thrilled to announce two new Festival Patrons and to unveil our new logo.
The new Patrons are Christian Browning – Film Director and Photographer, son of Daphne du Maurier and Iain Dale - British broadcaster, author, political commentator and former publisher and book retailer.
We look forward to working with Christian and Iain and welcome their support in assisting us to deliver our mission to promote the joy of literature and the arts, through our Festival and school outreach programme.
Christian Browning
We are honoured that Christian Browning, Film Director and Photographer, son of Daphne du Maurier and advocate of the work we do, joins us as Patron. His guidance over the years has been invaluable, and we are delighted to have his continued support.
Iain Dale
We are thrilled to announce that British Broadcaster, Author, Political Commentator and former publisher and book retailer, Iain Dale, has been appointed as a Patron of the Festival. Iain is no stranger to the Festival having first attended over 20 years ago, when he interviewed Ann Widdecombe. This year, he returned to talk about his bestselling book, Kings and Queens, conducted author interviews and entertained a captive audience with a live recording of his highly acclaimed podcast, For the Many. Iain’s support and enthusiasm for the festival is infectious, and it is a privilege to have him on board.
************
A Brief History of Our Literary Festival in Fowey
The first festival programme
A literary festival has taken place in Fowey for many years, the first being The Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature in May 1997. This was a community initiative which had the full support of the du Maurier Browning family and was timed to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Daphne's birth.
From then on it became a tradition that 13th May, Daphne's birthday, would always be included within the dates of the festival.
That first festival provided the pattern for the future, with du Maurier-related walks, exhibitions, talks, plays and music events. There was a national one-day conference on the subject of Daphne du Maurier and the Romance of Place, with speakers including Avril Horner, Sue Zlosnik and Helen Taylor.
The conference was repeated on a much bigger scale in 2007 to celebrate Daphne du Maurier's centenary when a three-day international conference was held and concluded with a visit to Ferryside for all the delegates.
Over the years that followed, the Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature grew under the direction of a small team of people from Restormel Borough Council led by Jonathan Aberdeen. The centrepiece of the festival was a beautiful festival village built on land belonging to Fowey Community College just beyond Fowey Hall Hotel.
When the festival in Fowey began, it was a rare and special event that thrived through the good years of the 2000s. But, as the decade drew to a close, a vast range of literary festivals all over the country gave people a greater choice of venue, and politics and the recession began to play their part in what was to become quite a struggle for survival.
With the inception of a unitary authority in the county, Cornwall Council could no longer justify supporting the du Maurier Festival in isolation; funding was reduced and shortly after ceased. However, a local group of enthusiastic people got together, incorporated the concept of the festival into a charity, and the Fowey Festival of Words and Music was born.
The festival became an altogether smaller event, located in various venues around the town, and, despite misgivings from many people, both local and visitors, has proved in the last few years to be very successful and financially sound.
Despite two years when the festival had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival continued to grow in strength and content under the direction of Brenda Daly and its board of trustees. It is enjoyed by all who come.
The formula continued to be one of walks, exhibitions, talks, workshops, and music events, but now it also includes an Art Trail, which gives local artists the opportunity to open their homes and studios to show and sell their work. Another popular addition is the Secret Gardens Programme, through which local people open their gardens to festival goers.
The festival also always makes a point of focusing on children through its school outreach programme.
In 2016, the name of the festival was tweaked slightly to reflect more accurately what the festival did and became the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature.
In November 2024, the festival announced that there were to be two new Festival Patrons and a new logo, naming the festival The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival. The new Patrons are Christian Browning – Film Director and Photographer, son of Daphne du Maurier and Iain Dale - British broadcaster, author, political commentator and former publisher and book retailer.
We can now confirm that the dates of the next Fowey Literary Festival are 1st - 9th May 2026. We will bring you news of what you can look forward to and link you with the festival website so that you can be completely up to date with all festival news.