01:05PM, Saturday 11 February 2023
Maidenhead’s Big Read festival will be returning from March 1-10 – with a special weekend of outer space-themed activities planned.
The annual festival helps schoolchildren to unite and engage with reading and all that a love of books can provide.
Schools in the area will be involved in a range of events across the 10 days of the festival, which coincide with World Book Day on March 2.
The centrepiece of the event will be a weekend of activities at Maidenhead Library on March 4 and 5.
Inspired by the recent rocket launch attempt from Spaceport Cornwall, the theme of the event will be centred around outer space.
Spaceport Cornwall will be exhibiting throughout the event to teach children more about what it does, how it does it and about the planets in space.
A planetarium, telescopes and VR will be available for the children to become immersed in the experience.
Stephan Stephan, chair of festival organisers, the Maidenhead Community Book Festival CIC, said: “It’s really aimed to encourage children and particularly reluctant children to read and to enjoy reading.
“We’re all volunteers with a passion to encourage people to read.
“The events are free of charge and some of them are during the week aimed at schools.
“We allocate various authors to various schools, and then at the weekend we have a theme.
“This year is the outer space, and it is to capture their [the children’s] interest in the subject and hopefully that would then just encourage them to read the book.
“This year 27 schools are taking part – last year we had only 18 so that’s great.
“And last year we had over 2,000 children at the library with their parents or guardians, so that was great.
“We’re hoping there will be about 2,000 to 2,500 people attending at the weekend.”
The weekend of activities includes a number of author presentations, storytelling and quiet reading sessions.
Authors set to feature include Sue Palmer, Ali Sparkes, Libby Jackson and Catherine Barr.
The weekend event will also spill out into the High Street, with the Once Upon a Bus storytelling bus based near Bardo Lounge on the Saturday and Sunday, and a space store open at the same spot on the Sunday.
W Visit maidenheads-big-read.org.uk for more information on the Big Read festival.
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