Chipping Norton Literary Festival 2023

Chipping Norton Literary Festival 2023

Since 2012 Chipping Norton has held its Literary Festival each April, celebrating writing and reading in attractive venues at the heart of this charming Cotswold town. The Chipping Norton Literary Festival 2023 will take place from 20 to 23 April 2023.

ChipLitFest has earned its reputation as one of the friendliest and most innovative festivals, bringing a wide-ranging array of writers, poets, public figures and creative people to the town and drawing large and lively audiences from a wide area.

In previous years the festival has welcomed Jim Al Kahlili, David Baddiel, Jo Brand, Candice Carty-Williams, Lee Child, Guy Gunaratne, Frank Gardner, Natalie Haynes, Armando Iannucci, Adam Kay, Prue Leith, Jenni Murray, David Nicholls, Robert Peston, Ian Rankin, Tony Robinson, Alan Rusbridger, SF Said, Lionel Shriver, Robin Stevens, Polly Toynbee, Kit de Waal, Terry Waite and Reggie Yates, among scores of others.

While focusing on the four-day festival over the last weekend in April, ChipLitFest also presents a number of accessible, entertaining events throughout the year – both celebrity speakers and workshops – to satisfy the appetite of its many supporters for literature in all its forms.

ChipLitFest is a community project, involving over 100 volunteers each year and enhancing links with residents of all ages and organisations within and around Chipping Norton.

Programme

Details about authors and events for ChipLit­Fest 2023 are available on the festival website. Highlights include David Baddiel headlining events at the town’s Theatre, Countryfile presenter Adam Henson as well as a special appearance by Clare Mackintosh, the festival’s original founder and now best-selling crime novelist.

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Ticketing information

Priority booking for Festival Friends opens on Monday, 06 March. General booking tickets will fo on sale from Monday, 13 March.

The Chipping Norton The­atre Box Office over­sees all tick­et sales in per­son, by phone and online.

Venues

The festival is based in the centre of Chipping Norton. All the venues are within a 10-minute walk of each other, which makes getting to consecutive events at different venues possible and practical

The Theatre, Chipping Norton
The Library
Town Hall
The Methodist Church
Jaffé & Neale
Chipping Norton Schools Partnership
Lower Town Hall
St Mary’s Parish Rooms
The Methodist Lower Hall
ACE Centre Nursery School (Hall)
The Fox (Meeting Room)
ACE Centre Nursery School (Garden Classroom)

Getting there

Chipping Norton sits on the A44 between Oxford and Worcester and the A361 between Burford and Banbury. For those with a Satnav, OX7 5DD will put you in the centre of town next to the Town Hall. If you arrive by car, look out for signs to the designated parking.

The S3 bus runs regularly between Oxford and Chipping Norton.
The 50 runs between Chipping Norton and Stratford.
The 488 runs between Chipping Norton and Banbury.

There are railway stations at Kingham and Charlbury, both of which are set on the Cotswold Line which runs from Oxford through to Hereford. There are regular buses to and from Kingham station.

Visitors are encouraged to use the free Festival car park at the Chipping Norton Health Centre, off the London Road which is 10 minute walk from the centre of Chipping Norton. A free park and ride bus will run between the Festival car park and Market Square throughout Saturday and Sunday of ChipLitFest.

There is limited short stay parking in the Town Centre, however there are also two long stay car parks: New Street and Albion Street, both of which are less than five minutes walk from the centre.

Good to know

Chipping Norton is very hilly and can be sometimes be awkward to negotiate.