About the Festival

Read about Borders Book Festival and the people behind it

It all started in June 2004, when Alistair Moffat had the idea of holding a small literary gathering in Melrose. Alistair was joined that year by Paula Ogilvie and, what started with a few speakers and an audience of 400, has turned into a 4-day extravaganza with an audience of more than 34,000 attending in 2019. We’ve certainly come a long way since that first year in the old Wynd Theatre in the centre of Melrose which saw the beginning of that great partnership between Alistair and Paula who are still running things today (with the support of a very small team of dedicated helpers).

We moved from the Wynd Theatre, via the Corn Exchange and the Melrose Festival Ball Marquee to Harmony Garden, which has been home to the festival since 2007. In 2015 we expanded our offering to include the Harmony Orchard where we created a festival village with an event marquee, storytelling tent, bar and a range of tipis, stretch tents and vintage vehicles including an old fire engine selling hot dogs, a crème brûlée van, ice cream served from a vintage bicycle and lots of coffee…

We were at Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, to take part in his 250th anniversary celebrations in November 2021 and were delighted to welcome authors and visitors back to OUR home, Harmony Garden, in June 2022.

Visit the Support the Festival page to learn more about how you or your business can help support the Borders Book Festival.

Join our team!

Be part of one of the country’s top literature festivals

We are currently seeking venue managers. If you have experience managing venues, in stage or technical management or production management in the arts then this role could be for you!

We are also looking for event staff and venue staff for this year’s festival, experience working in events, customer service or hospitality is essential for the role.

Interested? For further information on the roles and how to apply, download the correct role pack by clicking on buttons below.

Borders Book Festival Staff

Who’s Who

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FESTIVAL STAFF

RACHEL DYAS
Operations Manager

MAIRI MacLELLAN
Festival Administrator

CANDY RAFFERTY
Sponsorship and Fundraising

HILARY BUCHAN
Web & Social Media

HONORARY PATRONS

CATHERINE HAMILTON

RORY BREMNER

JAMES NAUGHTIE

ELEANOR UPDALE

PATRONS

THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH

THE DE GIER FAMILY

THE BLACKPORT FAMILY

FIONA & IAN RUSSELL

SUPPORTERS

SUE & ROB MOFFAT

ANN & MAURICE WHITE

JAMES BARTON