Agatha Christie Festival hailed a huge success

This year’s Agatha Christie Festival has been declared a huge success by organisers, with excellent feedback from attendees. More than 3,000 people attended one of more than 40 events, with 80% of travelling from outside the area and staying in local hotels and other accommodation. People travelled from right across the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, North America, South American and mainland Europe.

Ahead of the main festival, The Agatha Christie Sea Swim saw 225 participants swimming between Beacon Cove and Meadfoot Beach (two of Agatha’s favourite beaches) raising money for Rowcroft Hospice. The main festival then ran from 8th to 17th of September, with a fun five-day fringe festival followed by a four-day literary festival. The fringe opened with the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a supergroup made up of crime writers including Val McDermid on vocals. Other highlights included underground films in Kents Cavern, boat trips, garden parties, cocktail events, family theatre and even a dog-walking murder mystery. 

The literary programme took place in Torre Abbey’s Spanish Barn and various other places across the Bay including Cockington Church and Torquay Museum. The line up featured Robert Thorogood (writer of Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise), Ann Cleeves (writer of Vera and Shetland), Ruth Ware (author of The IT Girl and The Turn of the Key) and Sophie Hannah who pens the official Poirot sequels. The festival also coincided with the 70th anniversary touring production of The Mousetrap at the Princess Theatre 

The festival also saw Great Western Railways naming a train after Agatha Christie and the Vue Cinema hosting the south west premiere of the new Kenneth Branagh Poirot film, A Haunting in Venice.  This was followed by a gala drink’s reception in the Mercure Hotel, Paignton.  

Matt Newbury, the Creative Director of the Festival said; “We’ve had an amazing festival this year and it’s been so wonderful to meet so many Christie fans from right across the globe. The festival is a charity that aims to encourage people to participate in the arts and foster a love of reading and literature. As well as the main festival events, we have also hosted a young person’s mystery writing competition, while hundreds of local school children took part in our Creative Writing for Schools Workshops. Throughout the festival we held a raffle to win a stay at the Hampton by Hilton and tickets to next year’s festival. The success of the raffle and this year’s festival means we will be able to do even more of these projects in the future.”

The 2024 festival will take place from 7 - 15 September 2024. For more information visit www.agathachristiefestival.com