☰MARCH 2026

Bay Tales

The fifth Bay Tales Festival took place on February 28th and I'm trying to work out what makes it so very special. Someone described it as the 'friendly festival' and perhaps that's it. It's an event for readers. Of course, we writers are well looked after, and we know we'll sell a LOT of books - that's why publishers are clamouring to sponsor a panel. But our readers respond with equal warmth to debut authors as to the big hitters. They look out for each other, for the newcomers and for people who've travelled from other parts of the country to join us. They're kind - this year our raffle raised £1700 for the Bay Food Bank, our chosen charity.

Whitley Bay is my hometown, and I'm delighted to show it off to visitors. Vic Watson, the force of nature that brings the festival to being every year, is a resident too. We have our planning meetings in local coffee shops. Readers and writers stay in the town's hotels and guest houses. Most importantly, our wonderful indie bookshop, The Bound, is based here and the staff come along every year to sell books. The festival takes place in the Whitley Bay Playhouse, a lovely, recently renovated theatre. It seats 600 people and this year we almost filled it.

Each time, I get to choose someone to join me on stage for the first session. We call it the 'Patron's Pick'. In these discussions, I want to celebrate an author who's been writing for a while, who has had several books published, who is brilliant, but isn't really a household name. This year, the conversation was with Belinda Bauer. She's won every prize going, her writing is a joy, and yet, I don't think she's achieved the recognition she deserves. The chair was Alis Hawkins. Our moderators don't get the chance to talk about their own books, so please check out Alis's. The most recent is The Hunters Club and I loved it!

I'm not going to pick out my favourite panel or writer; each session was fabulously entertaining. It was great though to end with two celebrities. Elly Griffiths has written more than thirty crime novels, and her books are admired by readers and reviewers all over the world. Steph McGovern's debut novel Deadline was published last year to great success. She's local too and has supported the festival since it began. This conversation, chaired by Tim Rideout, was witty and fun, but also thought-provoking, just like the novels that were being discussed.

The festival ticket allows entry to fringe events: there's Noir at the Bay Bar on Friday night, a quiz on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning, people who want to extend their stay a little come along to Whitley library for a more informal session. This year, I was chatting with former senior crime scene investigator and great friend Helen Pepper. Our audience loved the tales of true crime, and we decided we should make Sunday morning a regular forensics session.

Thanks to Vic, her volunteers, the Playhouse staff and the booksellers. Thanks too to all the writers and the publishers who sponsored the panels. But the biggest thanks go to the readers. This is your festival and you make it more special each year.

Bay Tales 2027 will take place on February 27th. Tickets are already available through the Bay Tales website. 120 people booked over the weekend for next year. Why don't you come and join us?