LONG-SERVING director of the Wigtown Book Festival Adrian Turpin will be stepping down after the 2025 festival.
Adrian, right, first worked on the festival as a volunteer in 2006, before taking up his post. During his tenure, he has overseen a programme of expansion that saw the festival move from three days to ten, quadrupling its audience to more than 20,000, and generating £4.2 million a year for the region.
In 2017, he was awarded an OBE for services to literature and the economy of Dumfries and Galloway. A vocal advocate for the role culture can play in defining places and bringing social and economic benefits to communities, in recent years he has played a leading role in helping the festival face the challenges of covid, the cost-of-living crisis and public spending cuts.
Reflecting on his times as director, Adrian said: “This autumn’s festival will be my 20th at Wigtown, a run I’d have never imagined when I programmed my first event in 2006.
“The past year has been a huge one for the organisation securing vital three-year support from Creative Scotland, acquiring a permanent new home, and winning the national Thistle Award for Scotland’s Outstanding Cultural Event or Festival. After the long haul of rebuilding audiences following the pandemic, it feels like a very natural moment to pass on the baton, and I’m excited about new creative opportunities ahead.
“Wigtown has given me so much. It’s been a privilege to be part of this unique event and to get to know so many people in this extraordinary community.
“I would like to thank colleagues past and present, volunteers, writers, booksellers and audiences – everyone who has made the festival and Scotland’s Book Town so vibrant and welcoming. With this level of collective support, I’ve no doubt the festival will continue to inspire, surprise and enrich people’s lives.”
Offering her thanks to Adrian for all his hard work over the years, Cathy Agnew, chair of the Wigtown Festival Company, added: “The festival has grown enormously in terms of size, audience and impact in large part due to Adrian’s efforts.
“The high regard in which Wigtown Book Town and the annual Wigtown Book Festival are held is testament to Adrian’s creative flair and inspiration. He has been the driving force behind the organisation for 20 years and his energy and enthusiasm are infectious.”
