Edinburgh International Book Festival 2022: When is this year's celebration of literature, where is it being held, who's appearing and how do I get tickets?

The pandemic forced it online in 2020, before Covid restrictions led to a hugely scaled back event in 2021, but this year’s festival looks like being business as usual with a huge programme of events.

Festival bosses have announced more than 600 events for book lovers, featuring over 550 authors, performers, musicians and thinkers from 50 countries.

Here’s everything you need to know about attending the festival – either in person or online.

When is the festival?

This year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival starts on Saturday, August 13, and ends on Monday, August 29.

There will be events on from 10am-10pm on most days, with most events lasting an hour.

Where is the festival

After leaving its traditional home on Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square for the first time last year, the festival will once again be based at Edinburgh College of Art, on Lauriston Place.

Newly-knighted Scottish crime fiction master Sir Ian Rankin is just one of hundreds of authors appearing at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival.Newly-knighted Scottish crime fiction master Sir Ian Rankin is just one of hundreds of authors appearing at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Newly-knighted Scottish crime fiction master Sir Ian Rankin is just one of hundreds of authors appearing at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Organisers have promised a new site layout to accomodate more events and bigger audiences, including a new venue – Central Hall – located just off Lothian Road.

Events at the college will be held in the Baillie Gifford Sculpture Court and Baillie Gifford West Court theatres, while performance and writers events will be held for the first time in the nearby Wee Red Bar.

Meanwhile the Baillie Gifford Storytime Yurt will be a venue dedicated to children’s events and activities.

How do I get tickets?

Getting tickets for the more popular events at the book festival – in particular the events for children – is notoriously competitive.

The tickets go on sale on the festival website on Thursday, June 23, at 10am.

Prior to the sale date it is important to get organised – make sure you are registered on the website and have the correct username and password.

It’s also a good idea to note down a list of your must-see shows.

Log onto the website beforehand then click on the ‘buy tickets’ button at 10am on the dot and you will be placed into a (what may seem bewilderingly long) queue.

You can either wait on the site or ask them to send an email to inform you that you are at the front of the queue – when you will be given access to buy all your tickets.

Will there be online events?

If you can’t make it to Edinburgh you can still get involved thanks to the hybrid format developed over the past two years by the festival.

Many of the live, in-person events will also be available to stream or watch at a later date – just check out the event on the festival website to check what’s available.

Tickets for live streamed events are available on a ‘pay what you can’ basis.

Is it worth going along if I don’t have a ticket?

There will be plenty to keep non-ticket holders busy at the event, including food and drink, a festival bookshop, the Book Festival Village, and the chance to watch selected events live on a big outdoor screen.

Who is taking part?

Amongst the hundreds of authors taking part this year are Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, Outlander writer Diana Gabaldon, as well as Noam Chomsky, Jack Monroe, Alexander McCall Smith, Denise Mina, William Dalrymple and Armando Iannucci.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will take part in two events, interviewing acclaimed novelist Louise Welsh about her new novel The Second Cut, and screen legend Brian Cox about a life on the Scottish stage and his role in television hit series Succession.

For younger readers there are events with some of the world’s best known children’s authors including Jason Reynolds, Cressida Cowell, Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo and doctor turned writer and comedian Adam Kay.

Other famous faces include comedians Frankie Boyle and Kevin Bridges, musicians PJ Harvey, Shirley Manson, Ricky Ross and Charlotte Church, and actor Alan Cumming.

The Wee Red Bar will also host ‘This is Memorial Device’, a full theatre production of a new play based on David Keenan’s novel of the same name starring Line of Duty and Thick Of It actor Paul Higgins.

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