Wigtown Book Festival

The media rave about this event in 'Scotland's National Book Town' (over a quarter of a million books are on sale here, all year round - some going when you consider that there are only about 1,000 permanent residents!).

You can see why: the broad programme of debates, readings and workshops is packed to the gills with eminent writers, politicians and performers (past and future attendees include Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Maggie O’Farrell, Martin Bell, Celia Imrie...).

There’s always plenty on for mini bookworms, too: they could attend a Moomins playtime with songs, games and activities; get answers to burning questions such as, "Why is snot green?"; or meet favourite authors and illustrators like Polly Dunbar and Debbie Gliori.

The event also includes a dedicated programme of activities 'for writers, by writers', with sessions such as 'Thirteen errors I made writing my first novel and how to avoid them'...

All this, plus stunning countryside, great food and lashings of whisky - you can see why Wigtown has its loyal fans.