Four for 40
Support us
Our 2023 40th anniversary appeal has now been closed. Thanks to all our wonderful supporters who gave so generously and helped us reach our challenging target of £100,000. The amount has also been matched by one very generous donor, so together, we have raised £200,000 to invest in our four pledges set out in the appeal.
***
This year we look back on four decades of inspiring Book Festivals at which writers and thinkers from across the world have lit up Edinburgh. What’s remained a constant since 1983 is our ability to generate joyful, creative encounters which have stimulated generations of readers and thinkers.
We’ve faced some of our biggest challenges since 2020 and this remains a difficult climate in which to deliver a world-class Festival. We need help from the people who know and love the Book Festival to ensure that we can look ahead to the next 40 years with renewed ideas and fresh energy.
Now is your chance to make a difference to our next chapter! Please give towards our Four for 40 campaign, which sets out four key ambitions for Book Festivals of the future.
1
Our New Home
Making our new site at the Edinburgh Futures Institute in 2024 a welcoming and accessible haven for all, including the creation of a world-class festival bookshop with a range of unmissable books by authors in our programme and beyond.
2
Our Programme
Ensuring the best authors and thinkers from all over the world come to Edinburgh, with an emphasis on live encounters that excite, enthral, challenge us, spark conversations, help us see the world from a different angle.
3
Our Work for Children
Growing our offer for young audiences and keeping it affordable for families and schools. With your support we'll invest more in children’s programming and facilities at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
4
Our Community Work
Ensuring the vital year-round activity we’ve delivered over the past 3 years continues. With your support we want to increase engagement in the Edinburgh neighbourhoods of Tollcross, Drylaw and Pilton.
Your gift will be doubled!
Every pound you give towards our 40th anniversary appeal will have double impact as we’ve been pledged match-funding up to the value of £100,000. Please support us and see your generosity doubled.
Make a donationLet us show you how much we appreciate your support
Your name will appear on our 40th Anniversary Wall of Fame in 2023 and 2024.
At this level your support could help us keep investing in children’s programming and keep young people’s tickets affordable.
As above, plus: receive an exclusive Book Festival themed gift.
At this level your support would contribute significantly to the event fee for an author appearing at the Festival.
As above, plus: receive an invitation to a Book Festival Party in 2024 – offering the chance to rub shoulders with Book Festival insiders and authors.
At this level your support could help us create a beautiful bookshop within our new site at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
As above, plus: a free pair of tickets to an event of your choice within our 2024 programme.
At this level your support could be used to invest in the accessibility of our site and programme: making adaptations to venues and events, offering Pay-What-You-Can tickets, supporting livestreaming so that those unable to attend in person can still be inspired by authors and ideas.
As above, plus: receive full Benefactor privileges in 2024, including unlimited Advance Booking before any other bookers and invitations to exclusive events.
At this transformative level of support you would allow us to expand our work in communities. This could include: author events for young patients at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children; delivering regular reading sessions in prisons; and helping young people to engage with new ways of learning at the Spartans Alternative School.
More Ways to Support Us
If you have got any questions or would like to find out other ways in which you can support the charitable work of the Book Festival, please contact the Development team on 0131 718 5653 or send us an email to development@edbookfest.co.uk.
All donations made to this anniversary appeal will be used to fund the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s general charitable activities, including the areas of work mentioned in the illustrative examples. In the event of the total received exceeding £100,000, further donations received after this sum has been reached will not be doubled.
