Venues
All events are in venues within Bournemouth Town Centre and are within a ten-minute walk of each other.
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The Festival Hub will be at Pavilion Dance (which houses three of our talk spaces), plus Patch (where our Children's Activities will take place), St Peter's Church and the Bandstand in the Lower Gardens.
Bournemouth Town Centre
Writing activities and events are happening in Bournemouth Town Centre over the three-day festival.
As well as our main venues (see map below), networking and informal events are happening in cafes and restaurants across the town centre. Please check the relevant programme pages for details.
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Arrive by bus - Many buses stop along Westover Road and The Square, so are very close by to our main venues. Check out the bus timetables and routes here.
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Arrive by train - Bournemouth Train Station is 1.5 miles away - or a 30-minute walk. Take a bus or taxi into the town centre.
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Arrive by Taxi
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Arrive by car - we encourage you to use other transport options, but if you do drive there are extremely limited on-street parking options. Please use the pay-and-display or NCP car parks dotted around the town centre.
Pavilion Dance
Pavilion Dance is a charity arts centre located next to the Lower Gardens and is at the rear of the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre.
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The Bournemouth Writing Festival will be making use of several of its spaces on all three days, including:
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A 180-seat theatre
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A 50-seat Seafront studio
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A 50-seat Garden studio
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Information Desk
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Speaker's bookshop
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Cafe
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The garden studio is on the first floor and is accessible via a lift.
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It is ideally suited for public transport, with all major bus routes stopping very close by.
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Numerous car parking options are available within walking distance.
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The majority of tickets for the festival (whether at the Pavilion Dance or our other venues) will be puchasable through the Pavilion Dance ticketing portal. Buy gift vouchers here for events, talks and 1-2-1 sessions.
Patch
(1st Floor of Bobbys)
Located on the 1st Floor of Bobbys Department Store, Patch is a brand-new co-working space.
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On Saturday 26th April, all of our children's free drop-in activities and ticketed workshops will take place here.
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On Sunday 27th April, writing talks will happen in their Academy Room and the open-plan area will host our Author Marketplace.
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The entrance to Patch is on the lefthand side of Bobbys, by the Parlour Cafe.
Bandstand
The Bandstand, situated in the Lower Gardens, moments from the Pavilion Dance, is the location for our free Poetry Hub in association with the Winchester Poetry Festival.
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Just turn up on Saturday or Sunday and get have a go!
St Peter's Church
St Peter's Church, where Mary Shelley is buried, will return as a venue on Saturday 26th April.
Bobbys
The 2nd floor room at Bobbys will once-again be the location for our 1-2-1 sessions with literary agents and writing professionals.
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The entrance is to the lefthand side of Bobbys, by the Parlour cafe. Check-in at the reception desk on the first floor of Bobbys (in Patch) and a volunteer will take you to the room.
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
The Russell Cotes Art Gallery and Museum will be our relaxing area for attendees to digest and decompress. Free, chilled and hosted drop-in writing activities will take place throughout the weekend. Ideal for festival-goers who need space to unwind and relax.
