A free children's festival brings nine Jolly Postman installations to Southport from 24 October, plus author events at The Atkinson on 29 and 30 October.
Southport town centre is getting a free children’s book festival this October half term. Books Alive! runs from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October, Sefton Council announced on Tuesday 8 September (Sefton Council).
Its centrepiece is a trail based on The Jolly Postman, Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s picture book, which turns 40 this year. Nine large-scale installations will be placed around the town centre.
Visit Southport describes it as a “totally free festival”. The full programme has not been published yet; the organisers say it “will be announced soon” (Visit Southport).
What is in the festival
The council describes three parts.
The Jolly Postman Trail. Make CIC has been commissioned to work with artists from across the Liverpool City Region. They are building nine large-scale installations of scenes and characters from the book. Families follow a trail map, and can post their own letters along the route.
Puffin, the book’s publisher, is also giving a free copy to every Key Stage One class in the Southport Learning Partnership Network.
The Festival of Stories. This runs on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October at Southport Library and The Atkinson, in partnership with Children’s Book North Network. It includes theatre, craft workshops and events with four children’s authors and illustrators:
- Dapo Adeola
- Joseph Coelho
- Lydia Monks
- Kate Pankhurst
It will also host Noisy Noise Noise, an interactive sound library “for noisy children and their grown-ups” by Working Boys Club.
The Fringe Festival. Local businesses, community groups and venues run their own book-themed events across the town.
Businesses have until 9 October to take part
A business that wants to join the fringe must submit its idea by 9 October, through Visit Southport’s event form (Visit Southport). The rules are short:
- put “Books Alive!” in the event title
- include a literacy-themed element
- make it suitable for primary-school-aged children
Taking part brings a free support package, subject to availability:
- website and social media graphics with the festival logos
- an official window sticker
- bookmarks to hand out to customers
- a listing on VisitSouthport.com
The form should take about ten minutes, the organisers say. Sefton’s tourism team, at tourism@sefton.gov.uk, will help develop an idea. The festival is delivered by that team, with creative support from Culture Liverpool.
It follows a record summer for Sefton’s libraries
Books Alive! comes straight after Sefton Libraries’ biggest Summer Reading Challenge. A record 3,456 children signed up to this year’s music-themed challenge, Read to the Beat (Sefton Council, 9 September).
That beat last year’s record of 3,100 by 356 children, about 11% more. Two thousand had signed up in the first week of the school holidays alone.
Cllr Liz Dowd, the cabinet member responsible for libraries, called the sign-ups “a fantastic achievement”. She tied the two together. Books Alive!, she said, “builds on that success by bringing stories to life beyond the library and classroom”.
What it means for you
- Keep the week in mind if you have primary-age children. The festival starts the Saturday before Sefton’s half term and ends the Saturday after it. Our Southport half-term guide covers the rest of that week’s events and prices.
- Times and booking are not published yet. That includes where the nine installations will stand and whether the author events need tickets. Check the Visit Southport page before you set out.
- Coming by train from Liverpool? Merseyrail’s Northern Line works run from 11 October to 6 November. Southport trains still run, to a changed timetable. On Sundays they run only as far as Sandhills, which includes Sunday 25 October (Merseyrail). Our Southport train times page has more.
- Run a shop, cafe or venue in town? The fringe deadline is 9 October.
Sources
- Sefton Council, Books Alive! Exciting chapter as Southport to become living storybook this October half term, 8 September 2026, for the dates, the three strands, the authors, the partners and the quotes.
- Visit Southport, Books Alive! for the free entry and the programme status, and its Fringe Festival page for the 9 October deadline, the rules and the support package.
- Sefton Council, Summer Reading Challenge breaks record, 9 September 2026, for the 3,456 and 3,100 sign-up figures.
- Merseyrail, Northern Line tunnel upgrade: service information, for the 11 October to 6 November arrangements.
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