Tickets sales hit record high in Harrogate for 'globally important' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

Organisers are celebrating after a record number of crime fiction fans flocked to Harrogate from across the globe.

Harrogate International Festivals says that this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival celebrated significant audience growth with audience members drawn from across the UK, Europe and the USA.

In total, a record-breaking 21,000 tickets were sold for 34 events with 140 authors in the biggest success of this globally-important literary fixture’s glittering 23-year history.

That's an increase of 7.9 percent on 2025 over the festival’s four days from July 23-26.

Sharon Canavar, Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said: "The record number of Festival visitors reflect our audience’s appetite for live events and connection with writers and fellow crime fiction readers."

Bestselling authors and well-known names appearing at the Festival included Ann Cleeves, Brenda Blethyn, Ardal O’Hanlon, Andi Osho, Denise Mina, Adam Kay, Anthony Horowitz, Holly Jackson, Vaseem Khan, Val McDermid, Mick Herron, Alice Feeney and 2026 Festival Chair, Lisa Jewell.

Popular broadcaster Louise Minchin hosted a packed morning interview event with authors Nadine Matheson and Steve Cavanagh in front of an 800-person audience at 9am.

Shared reading scheme, The Big Read, was launched at the Festival with The Whisper Man by Alex North, announced as this year’s selected book

The Big Read will go on tour with a series of free events in libraries across the North of England in October, hosted by Reader-In-Residence Julie Mae Cohen.

Lady Victoria Borwick, VisitEngland Advisory Board Chair, said: “Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is a brilliant example of how culture and tourism work hand-in-hand.

"It has grown into a truly international event, attracting visitors from across the UK and around the world to Harrogate and showcasing Yorkshire to new audiences.”

The newly-launched Swift Half Stage, an innovative space championing brilliant storytellers, rising stars and boundary-pushing creatives in a series of bite-size events, proved hugely popular with crime fiction fans.

Simon Theakston, Chairman of T&R Theakston, said: “We are delighted that this year’s fantastic festival was our most successful event ever, with even more crime fiction fans from around the world visiting Harrogate.”