More than 10,000 visitors expected at Aberdeen's tenth annual literary celebration

ABERDEEN'S annual literary celebration, the Word Festival, is expected to set a visitor record this weekend as it celebrates its tenth birthday.

The festival, now firmly established as one of the highlights of Scotland's cultural calendar, has attracted a line-up of more than 50 authors from across the globe to the three-day event, which also features film screenings, exhibitions and a touch of opera.

And for the first time the organisers are expecting to attract more than 10,000 visitors.

The authors taking part in this year's festival include Pauline McLynn, the Father Ted and Shameless actress, adventurer Benedict Allen, and Martin Bell, the journalist and former independent MP.

The line-up also features wildlife cameraman Simon King, of the BBC's recent Shetland Diaries series, and Spanish writer Lucia Etxebarria.

The Word Festival will also feature opera for the first time with the launch of Scottish Opera's Five:15 series of short operas.

Prof Alan Spence, artistic director of the festival, said: "Ticket sales for Word 10 have been great with a record number sold in the first week following the launch of our exciting programme."

He continued: "Word is an annual literary festival of international proportions which has held its place as one of the highlights of Scotland's cultural calendar for a decade."