Hundreds of school children have immersed themselves in a world of stories and creativity after more than 1,000 tickets to the Children’s Literature Festival currently taking place in Bath were provided for free.

Organisers Bath Festivals used funds that would have been spent on the hire of the Guildhall, for which the charge was waived by Bath & North East Somerset Council, on free tickets to schools so that more local children could take part in the event.

The Children's Literature Festival began on September 29th and runs until October 8th in spaces across Bath and brings books and stories alive for children, joined by more than 100 local and national writers, creators and illustrators from the world of young people’s books.

Councillor Kevin Guy, council Leader, said: “This week I had the absolute pleasure of meeting some of the pupils from Kingfisher Class at Twerton Infant School & Nursery when they took part in the Children’s Literature Festival at the Guildhall. Bath Festivals do a superb job bringing great authors to Bath and we are lucky to have this festival at lots of venues across the city including Bath Central Library. The festival is still on until Sunday so there’s still time to get involved.”

Hazel Plowman, Head of Creative Learning, Bath Festivals said: “We are so grateful to Bath & North East Somerset Council for waiving the hire charges and enabling us to share the joy of reading with so many children and young people from Bath and North East Somerset. Reading for pleasure is vital for children’s education and emotional well-being and engaging with authors and illustrators at festival events can spark creativity and excitement that last a lifetime.”