Barnes Children's Literature Festival
The Barnes Children’s Literature Festival (BCLF) is the largest dedicated children’s literature festival in London and one of the biggest in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2014 by a group of local parents, it has grown from a conversation at the school gate into a major annual event featuring over one hundred events, workshops, and performances across multiple venues in Barnes. It is the only national literature festival in the UK that is entirely organised and produced by unpaid volunteers.
Origins
The festival was born, in the words of its organisers, as “a kind of afternoon epiphany for a few of us Mums and Dads who believe in books.” A group of parents in Barnes recognised that while the area had a strong literary tradition and an engaged community, there was no dedicated children’s book festival in London. Amanda Brettargh, who became the festival’s director, led the effort to turn the idea into reality. The first BCLF took place in 2015, and by its second year it had already established itself as a significant event on the national literary calendar.
Scale and Format
The festival typically takes place over a weekend in June. The 2025 edition, the festival’s eleventh year, was held on 21–22 June and featured more than one hundred events. Programming includes author talks, illustrator workshops, storytelling sessions, poetry performances, panel discussions, and interactive activities for children of all ages.
Headline authors at recent festivals have included David Walliams, Cressida Cowell, Axel Scheffler (illustrator of The Gruffalo), Stephen Mangan, Adam Kay, Janice Hallett, and M.G. Leonard. The festival attracts a mix of established bestsellers and emerging voices, with a particular emphasis on making live literary encounters accessible to families.
Venues
Events are spread across a number of Barnes venues, reinforcing the festival’s village character:
- St Mary’s Church – the historic parish church serves as a principal event space
- OSO Arts Centre – the community theatre on Barnes Green
- Barnes Green Centre – near Barnes Pond
- Barnes Methodist Church and Hall – on Church Road
- Castelnau Community Centre – in the Castelnau area
- St Osmund’s Primary School – one of the local schools that hosts events
- The Judith Kerr Marquee – a temporary venue named in honour of the author and illustrator who lived in Barnes
Schools Programme
The BCLF Schools Programme was launched in 2018 and has since become the largest free schools programme of its kind in England. It provides over 20,000 free places across nine London venues, giving pupils aged five to eleven the opportunity to meet and be inspired by leading children’s authors, illustrators, and poets. The programme extends the festival’s reach well beyond Barnes itself, engaging schools across south-west London and further afield.
Volunteers and Recognition
The festival is staffed entirely by over 150 unpaid volunteers – parents, friends, and members of the wider Barnes and literary communities – who manage the event alongside their day jobs and school runs. This volunteer model is unique among national literature festivals.
In 2021, the BCLF was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the highest honour given to local volunteer groups in the United Kingdom. It is the only literature festival to have received this award. The festival also received a special designation recognising its community support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barnes BookFest
Alongside the children’s festival, Barnes hosts Barnes BookFest, an adult literary festival initiated in 2021 by The Barnes Bookshop in partnership with Magic Productions and The Friends of St Mary’s Barnes. Barnes BookFest brings writers of all genres to SW13 for a weekend of talks and discussions covering politics, history, fiction, memoir, music, and art. It typically takes place in September.
Barnes Literary Society
The Barnes Literary Society, which holds its events at St Mary’s Church, is a members’ club for book lovers. It organises regular talks by authors and poets, as well as literary day trips to museums and galleries. Past speakers have included Andrew Graham-Dixon, Chris Patten, and Ronald Harwood.
Wider Context
Together with the Barnes Fair, the Barnes Music Festival, and Barnes BookFest, the BCLF forms part of a rich annual programme of community events that distinguishes Barnes from other London neighbourhoods. The presence of a nationally significant literary festival reinforces the area’s reputation as a cultured, community-minded village.
Sources
- About Us – Barnes Children’s Literature Festival (official site)
- Barnes Children’s Literature Festival wins Queen’s Award – The Bookseller
- About the Festival – Barnes BookFest (official site)
- Barnes Literary Society – Barnes Village directory