Star-studded line up announced for 2025 Borders Book Festival in Melrose

Gavin & Stacey stars Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb will join crime writer Ian Rankin, Monty Python's Michael Palin, and First Minister John Swinney at this summer's Borders Book Festival.

They lead a star-studded line-up which boasts a host of famous faces from the world of sport, politics and comedy, including the likes of Strictly Come Dancing winner Stacey Dooley, Hairy Biker Si King, and former cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove.

Borders wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn will also chat about her first Paralympic Gold medal in Paris last summer with fellow Paralympian Tanni Grey Thomson.

The event takes place at the National Trust's Harmony Garden in Melrose over four days, from June 12th to 15th.

And there's a new addition to the venue this year...

Festival Director, Alistair Moffat (pictured above) said: "After 22 years we've finally got control of the weather. Over in the food village, where much of the family book festival takes place, we've got a big clear-span canopy, which is new to the Book Festival this year. We want to encourage people to come, and if you know that you're not going to be refreshed by the climate then you'll be absolutely fine.

"We've got an anniversary of course this year, it's 80 years since the end of the Second World War, and I'm talking to Bruce McCartney about a really interesting phenomenon called The Secret Listeners. These were people who were radio hams before the war and they worked, essentially, for Bletchley Park - listening to German intelligence, the dot-dash Morse code coming across the North Sea, and from elsewhere. And a lot of that started in Selkirk in the Borders.

"We will also hear direct from some of Britain’s brightest minds their reflections on our current world: how it’s changed; where it’s headed; and what we can do about it.

“But it’s not all heavy politics. As ever, our programme is as varied as it is packed, with top-notch storytelling, inspiring sport, well-known faces from the screen, and tales of travel and adventure to suit all tastes."

Inspiring stories from more recent years come from champion British-Kenyan swimmer Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, who will share her memoir, These Heavy Black Bones; and unlikely athlete-turned-record-breaker Jessica Hepburn, who describes how she exercised her way out of the heartbreak of eleven failed rounds of IVF and the realisation that she would not be a mother. 

Also joining the line-up: husband-and-wife duo Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman as crime sensation Ambrose Parry; and for fans of literary fiction, celebrated novelist Andrew O’Hagan, plus Dacre Stoker and Ellie Zeegen on the legacy of Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula; Mairi Kidd joins us with her acclaimed historical novel The Specimens; and Scottish poet, writer and musician Don Paterson and young rising Scottish music star archie add to the eclectic arts line-up.

The announcement of the prestigious Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction will also be made on the opening evening of the Festival, with six shortlisted international literary talents in contention for the £25,000 prize, previously won by the likes of Dame Hilary Mantel, Sebastian Barry and Robert Harris.

Borders author Alan Windram returns for The Family Book Festival, which takes place throughout the day on the Saturday and Sunday.

In addition, the four-day festivities will also play host to live music, the Orchard Food Village, a bookshop to browse thanks to new sponsor David Young, as well as free, fun activities for all the family throughout the weekend.

Alistair added: “This sparkling programme would not have been possible without the generosity of those who helped fund the Book Festival – both public and private – and we are beyond grateful for their support and enthusiasm, this year more than ever.

"The economic impact of the festival over four days is more than £3million. But it's also the fact that the Borders is not peripheral and we show that with this festival, because these are international names. It gives people confidence, we're not in the back of beyond, we are important."

Tickets now available at www.bordersbookfestival.org or by calling 0131 290 2112.

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