'The little festival with a big impact' is bringing famous names to Smithdown again

Smithdown Litfest is bringing famous names to south Liverpool again, including a headliner which sold out in just 12 hours!

This year’s line-up features actor, comedian, travel presenter and writer Michael Palin who is coming for a special event near Sefton Park.

The former Monty Python star will be at Ullet Road Unitarian Church on Friday September 26 to talk about his fascinating career, and his new book Michael Palin in Venezuela.

Other events will focus on the career ups and downs of Reds legend Kevin Keegan and the lives of the Brontë sisters.

There’ll also be a chance to discover a century of Liverpool on film through amazing archive footage and take a fascinating tour of Toxteth Park Cemetery’s hidden histories.

Ian Skillicorn, who founded the festival in 2017, says one of the beauties of Smithdown Litfest is it has something to appeal to everyone, and this year is no different.

He said:

“We try to always get a balance of events – some people will come to everything, some people will just come to one thing, and I think that’s what’s important.

“This is our ninth year and now we’ve got a track record, we can prove to guests that they’ll have a good time, they’ll be looked after and they’ll get a great receptive audience if they come here.

“We have a wish list and it might be a bit ambitious going after someone like Michael Palin but I’m amazed every year that we seem to keep upping the ante.

“Because the festival is so popular, and I think we do a good job, the word is getting out there so we’re like the little festival with a big impact.

“Our speakers may sometimes have been to Liverpool before to give a talk but we’re bringing household names right into the heart of the community. They’re not in the city centre, they’re where people live and work and I think that’s the special thing about Litfest.”

This year’s programme is spread across various venues around the Smithdown area – Michael Palin is at Ullet Road Unitarian Church, which has previously hosted Chris Tarrant and Vera author Anne Cleeves.

The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar is at Sefton Park Palm House (Sept 28) and Keegan: The Man Who Was King with author and journalist Anthony Quinn is at St Bridget and St Thomas Church on Bagot Street (Sept 25).

The afternoon Toxteth Park Cemetery Walking Tour on Saturday September 27 will be followed by a talk with historical fiction author JP Maxwell at Sips and Stories coffee shop on Smithdown Road, and on the same evening Liverpool Memories: A Century of Liverpool on Film will be shown at Mossley Hill Church on Rose Lane.

That screening came about after Ian found a long-forgotten DVD in his parents’ loft.

He explains:

“The DVD showed old film footage of Liverpool, with clips of life in the city going back to the Victorian age, including WWI, WWII, and Sefton Park in the 1930s, up to the Garden Festival and the Punch & Judy in Williamson Square in the ‘80s.

“It was really fascinating so I researched and found the guy who did it was an amateur filmmaker and archivist called Angus Tilston. He has sadly died now, but his daughter has a Facebook page keeping his memory alive.

“I got in touch with her and said I’d like to do an event showcasing some of her dad’s films. She still has the copyright so she sent me a digitized copy and together we’ve come up with a programme.

Smithdown Litfest runs from September 25 to 28 and Ian says there’s a waiting list via Eventbrite for Michael Palin with other tickets selling out faster than ever before.

This year the festival is supported by the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, and Liverpool City Council.

Profits from ticket sales will be donated to Smithdown in Bloom and funds used to buy more planters and plants, to be placed along Smithdown Road and neighbouring streets.