PRESS
RELEASE....
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SEPTEMBER 2008
THE STENA LINE WIGTOWN BOOK FESTIVAL
10TH ANNIVERSARY
26
SEPTEMBER - 5 OCTOBER 2008
PERSONAL FINANCE GURU ALVIN HALL TO JOIN CREDIT
CRUNCH DEBATE
The organisers of the Stena Line Wigtown Festival are
delighted that best selling finance writer (turned children's author) and
presenter of BBC2's Your Money or Your Life, Alvin
Hall, will be joining the panel for Surviving The New Austerity. He will appear alongside journalist and
former BBC arts correspondent Rosie Millard, business journalist Bill Jamieson
and former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell on Sunday 28 September in
the Festival Marquee.
Born in Florida, Hall studied literature at university
before becoming interested in finance.
It is his ability to make finance sound both easy and
interesting that brought him to the attention of the media. He is now in demand on both sides of the
Atlantic as a speaker and broadcaster on money
issues.
Hall's new book Show Me The Money (published by Dorling
Kindersley) aims to teach children about economics in an entertaining way. In
its pages, young readers are exposed to basic concepts of currency and finance,
including the barter system, supply and demand, and how money works differently
around the world.
(Alvin Hall trivia: During a sporadic period of
unemployment during the early 1990s, he spent a number of months earning a
living as an MC Hammer lookalike.)
Other speakers appearing at this year's Stena Line
Wigtown Book Festival include Fay Weldon, Bill Paterson, Jack McConnell, Gregor
Townsend, Louis de Bernieres, AL Kennedy, Michael Morpurgo, James Kelman,
Hardeep Singh Kohli, David Steel, Brian Keenan, Christopher Brookmyre and Lucy
Irvine.
The festival is kindly sponsored by Stena Line, with funding from
EventScotland, the Scottish Arts Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council
To book or request further information please phone 01988
403222.
Mon-Fri
9.00am-5.00pm
Sat
10.00am - 4.00pm
Sun
2.00pm - 4.00pm
Website sales available 24 hours, 7 days a week :
www.wigtownbookfestival.com
Fiona Duff
0131 225 2279
Ten years ago, Wigtown was designated Scotland's National Book
Town. It was the start of
one of the most successful examples of economic regeneration ever seen in
Scotland. When the Book Town regeneration project began in 1997,
Wigtown was desolate following the closure of the local creamery. Empty, often
derelict, properties were scattered throughout the town and there was little
employment.
A decade on, the community is recognised as a model of
small-town regeneration and has become one of the region's cultural hubs. More
than 50 properties have been refurbished and the restored County Buildings have
won a Dynamic Places award. The town now has more than 20 bookshops and
book-related businesses (compared to one in 1997). The hotel has also re-opened
and new bed and breakfasts and guesthouses have
appeared.
Guests at the festival over the years have ranged from
war correspondents, Rageh Omaar, Jeremy Bowen, Martin Bell and Kate Adie;
novelists, Louis de Bernières, David Mitchell and William McIlvanney; gardeners,
Bob Flowerdew and Monty Don; to broadcasters such as Libby Purves, Sheena
Macdonald and the late Magnus Magnusson. Often - as the visits of George
Galloway in 2005 and Northern
Ireland's First Minister Rev Ian Paisley in
2007 showed - debate can be fierce. Wigtown may pride itself on being a friendly
event, but it doesn't shy away from intellectual
controversy.
A visit to the Stena Line Wigtown Festival is, however,
never just about the talks. Recent years have seen the introduction of film
seasons and live music, while this autumn's programme features a performance by
Scottish Opera. The numerous bookshops on Scotland's widest street make the
town is bibliophile's dream, too, the perfect place for visitors to browse
between events. Co-operation between the Festival and booksellers has been a
central plank of the Book Town regeneration
project.
Much of the Stena Line Wigtown Festival's charm lies in
its intimate setting, which allows members of the audience to mingle with
speakers in a way that wouldn't be possible at an urban festival. Events take
place in various locations, from the 150-seat-plus venues of the County Buildings, the Festival Marquee and
Bladnoch Distillery, to smaller spaces in the bookshops.
The festival is support by EventScotland, the national
events agency. EventScotland is
working to make Scotland one of the world's leading
event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural
events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland's
international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.
For further information about EventScotland, its funding
programmes and latest event news visit EventScotland.org
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