Lincoln Inspired festival returns to the city

The annual Lincoln Inspired festival will return from May 6 – 11.

Lincoln Inspired is a festival of all things literature, arts and performance, now in its second year.

This year, organisers have over 50 events planned, held at the Lincoln Drill Hall, The Collection, Cafe Portico, the BookStop Cafe, Boultham Park, libraries and even Lincolnshire Showground.

Most events though will be held at Lincoln Drill Hall, the festival’s hub.

One of the main attractions this year will be a visit from bestselling author Jasper Fforde, who’s written the Thursday Next series of comedy detective novels.

He was voted by people as the writer audiences would most like to see at the festival this year.

Festival director Sara Bullimore said: “Knowing that people in Lincoln really want to see Jasper made us determined to try to get him to come along.

“We were absolutely thrilled when he said yes and tickets are selling fast for his event.”

He will be at Lincoln Drill Hall on May 8.

Meanwhile, other events include learning a history of food from a MasterChef judge, baking Gruffalo crumble, a TweetUp and learning the real history behind the story of Noah’s Ark from British Museum assistant keeper Irving Finkel.

If you prefer historical talks, on May 11 learn about Drill Hall’s own heritage as a training venue for troops, including a talk by military history expert Allan Mallinson, while Richard Pullen discusses Lincoln’s role in the development of the tank.

There are a number of workshops on offer, from dance, advice for aspiring writers, theatre, children’s Storybook Days and performance poetry.

“Working with all kinds of venues is an important part of the Inspired spirit and we have also worked hard to keep our events affordable,” Sara added.

“Many children’s events, such as the Big Boultham Bear Hunt in Boultham Park and storytimes with Bookstart Bear at local libraries, are free and a lot of our other events for children and adults are £5 or even less.

“We rely on the support of the community to make the festival happen and we want as many people as possible to come along and enjoy the events.”

Tickets for any event can be booked via the Drill Hall box office on 01522 873894 or on the venue’s website.

For the full Lincoln Inspired programme, visit Lincolninspired.co.uk or look out for the festival brochure at shops, libraries and other venues in Lincoln.