Community Thanks for Wigtown Book Festival’s 2026 Success
Final day ends with appearance by Outlander’s Sam
Wigtown Festival Company (WFC) has thanked the public, volunteers, staff and guests as this year’s event comes to a close – with plenty to celebrate.
Despite difficult economic times, final figures are expected to show an increase in ticket sales and visitors numbers compared to 2025.
The sold-out finale of the festival saw Galloway’s Sam Heughan talk about how his acting career began, his success with Outlander, his writing and his love of hiking in the Scottish countryside – and his affection for southern Scotland.
Heughan said: “I think Galloway, the southwest and the south of Scotland, have got so much to offer. There's so much history here - it's tangible. And look at this amazing festival.”
And last week the festival’s contribution to Scotland and the region were also recognised when it received the Tourism & Visitor Management Award in the annual Helping it Happen awards, run by Scottish Land & Estates (SLE).
The award acknowledges Wigtown Book Festival’s remarkable resilience in recent years – including the challenges of the pandemic followed by a major loss of income when Baillie Gifford withdrew its sponsorship of book festivals across the UK.
One example of its community work this year has been the Solway Schools Project, facilitated by poet Hugh McMillan and led by WFC Young People's Engagement Officer Morgan Love.
The project saw hundreds of young people from schools along the coast each contribute three lines of poetry about the Solway, the natural environment and what it means to them.
They were all put together to create the Solway Renga, a 2,000-line poem, which was displayed in Wigtown’s County Buildings during the festival.
Each of the schools now have their own Poetry Champions who will promote interest in poetry and creative writing. This weekend the champions gathered in Wigtown for a special event where they read some of their own work.
As ever the festival’s success was driven by small group of paid staff and the 100+ volunteers who give up their time to do everything from running the box office and hosting events, to cleaning, selling tickets and driving guests to and from railway stations and airports.
Staff and Trustees with Tourism and Visitor Management Award
Wigtown Book Festival volunteers
Isla Rosser-Owen, Wigtown Festival Company CEO, said: “It always amazes me the way the community comes together to make this festival happen, helping promote Wigtown as Scotland’s National Book Town and Galloway as a wonderful place to visit.
“Despite the difficult economic times we set ourselves some ambitious targets for this year in terms of visitor numbers and ticket sales – and it looks as if we have achieved them all.
“This is vital not just for the future of the festival, but so we can carry on doing the rest of our work, such as our projects with children and young people.
“Our team delivering the festival is absolutely fantastic and I’d like to thank our volunteers, trustees, and staff for working so, so hard to make it all happen. Thanks, too, to all of our guests, visitors, sponsors and funders for supporting and contributing to this year’s festival.”
The final day of the festival, Sunday 4 October, drew audiences to see guests including best-selling author Alex Howard with his new book The Ship’s Cat, Glasgow’s multi-award winning debut author of A Bad, Bad Place Frances Crawford, and art historian Alice Strang who was talking Galloway’s importance to the Scottish Colourists.
Cat and author Alex Howard
Author Frances Crawford and Pauline McLean
Cathy Agnew, Chair of the board of trustees, said: “It’s been a terrific week and we’ve welcomed authors, audiences and volunteers from all over the world. As ever, it’s been a real melting pot of ideas and connections whose legacy is a memorable Wigtown shared experience.
“It was a terrific boost to the team to receive the Scottish Land and Estates Helping it Happen Award during the week as we built up to a crescendo of exciting events in the final weekend with Bill Paterson, Sophie Raworth, Vince Cable, Larry Lamb and Sam Heughan. Definitely something to suit all tastes!”
The festival brings in around £4.3 million a year to Dumfries & Galloway, boosting local businesses such as cafes, self-catering and B&B's, shops and restaurants.
It creates employment and business opportunities through event and hospitality contracts.
Many events in the festival programme are a platform for local voices, regional history and topical subjects for the area, strengthening our sense of place and community.
WFC also uses local suppliers and businesses wherever possible.
