Montpelier Gardens becomes hub for the Cheltenham Literature Festival
The site hosted hundreds of school children for a the first day of a week long programme
The Cheltenham Literature Festival returns to its home in Montpelier gardens this weekend. The site has been transformed into an immersive space for festival goers to enjoy.
This will be the festivals main hub for the week but events are taking place across Cheltenham in venues like the Town Hall and Dunkerton's Taproom.
On Friday, the first day of the programme hundreds of school children and their teachers attended the festival. Children's literature is a huge part of the programme and the site is set up to support young readers and their families.
The Hush, a quiet spot for young people and families to come and take a break, provides a tranquil break from all the excitement.
Holly helps run the space. She said, ''its a space for wellbeing, for craft and activities. We've been really busy all day today with school groups coming in.''
The festival is made up of different stages, book shops and activities for book lovers young and old.
The Voicebox stage will host an array of completely free events aimed at 18-30 year olds.
We spoke to Mary Beard ahead of her show 'Old Stories, New Voices'. Mary is a historian and classicist specialising in Ancient Rome.
Mary has been speaking at the festival for many years. She said this was her twenty second year at the Cheltenham Literature festival.
She talked about why young people should read ancient stories.
She said, ''its going to help them think about themselves. Its going help them think about a perspective that's different to their own.
One of the things we need more than anything else, in the very polarising world we live in, is we need people to think: what would it be like not to think like I do.''
The Cheltenham Literature Festival continues in venues across Cheltenham until the 18th October.