LitFest to skip 2026 and return for 'fresh start'

An Isle of Man festival that has celebrated literature and the art of writing for more than a decade is to skip a year so the committee can "regroup and make a fresh start".

Manx LitFest has been organised since 2012, bringing a host of renowned authors to the island each year, with Chocolat author Joanne Harris among the headliners at the most recent event.

Festival director Helen Jessopp said committee member time and funding pressures meant the main event was being scaled back this year.

But she said pausing the main festival in favour of smaller, specialised literature evenings and activities would put it on a "stronger footing to carry on every year" thereafter.

A schedule of smaller events for later in the year is still to be finalised although the team behind the festival have set a challenge for people to take part in a sponsored read between 16-22 May.

She said while the festival still enjoyed support from the Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin, the further sponsorship needed to run the event was no longer guaranteed.

The loss of some longstanding committee members and other commitments meant, collectively, the time was not there to secure the full £17,000 needed to put the 2026 festival on, she said.

Pausing the main event meant those behind it would now have the time to focus on putting on smaller, more focussed events under the same banner that were not possible in the wake of a larger festival.

It was hoped, Jessopp said, that that would ultimately help to grow local interest targeting new groups of avid readers and writers.

"Hopefully that will make the committee and festival stronger and give us a stronger footing to carry on every year," she said.

Manx LitFest was first put together by former festival director John Quirk after he felt the "realisation that when you're on an island, you can't go away to these big festivals all the time" - so a local event was created to bring authors over.

Jessopp said her own initial involvement was focused on getting the island's schools involved by organising authors' visits.

"I think getting people reading from a young age is so important," she said.

"For me that's where my specific enthusiasm lies in the young people getting them reading, getting them engaged, firing up that imagination."

However, she said "a love of reading and writing and creativity and all the artistry that comes along with that particular industry" was important at any age.

"Whether that's the writing, the illustrating, poetry, fiction, prose, whatever - it's so important to have that and foster that within everybody as much as possible," she continued.

She said there was a danger that arts could "sometimes get left behind" with rises in the cost of living when "people are putting more priority towards other things".

"So if we can provide something that is accessible, easy to get to, low cost, that reaches across age and across everything within community - whether people like crime or mystery or fiction non-fiction - I think that's really invaluable," she added.

The provisional dates for the return of the event in 2027 are 28 September to 03 October.

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