The Ilkley Gazette is proud to exclusively unveil today the line-up for this year’s Ilkley Literature Festival. And what a line-up it is.

The festival always attracts big names from the literary world, but the organisers have certainly excelled themselves this year, which is as it should be – the 2013 festival marks the 40th anniversary of this internationally-renowned event which has put Ilkley well and truly on the map of the book world.

Celebrity authors are always a mainstay of the festival, and this year we have a coup by not only welcoming broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby to talk about his new novel Destiny In The Desert, but also having him host an edition of BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions programme right here in Ilkley.

There are major heavyweights in the shape of Germaine Greer, Melvin Bragg and Kate Adie, and prime novelists such as crime writer Colin Dexter, historical novelist Philippa Gregory and Alexander McCall, author of the best-selling 44 Scotland Street series of books.

Homegrown talent is not forgotten either, as Olympic heroes the Brownlee brothers talk about their joint memoir, poet Simon Armitage makes an appearance, and Ilkley’s Jeremy Dyson brings his spooky stories to the festival.

The Ilkley Literature Festival is something of which we should all be justly proud. Its longevity is testament to the power of reading in all its forms, and proof that literature remains as strong a force today as it always has.

Come October, we will be welcoming the cream of the literary world to our town and Ilkley will once again be the focus of the book world and we should all try our best to support this wonderful event.

Lido is a hot spot for summer fun

What better way to celebrate the summer than with a solstice swim at Ilkley Lido?

The first such event at the pool – surely one of the jewels in Ilkley’s crown – took place on midsummer day at dawn... possibly the best wake-up call you can imagine!

Even more welcome is the relatively – compared to recent years – temperate weather we’ve had on and off over the past couple of weeks. While perhaps the long, hot summers of yesteryear might be a little too optimistic an ambition for us, the success of this event, coupled with the excellent Live at the Lido gig at the weekend, does serve to remind us what a fantastic facility we have in Ilkley Pool and Lido.

There are very few public facilities such as this around the country and we are very lucky to have it right in our town. This is another great thing we should support to ensure its continued existence.

Let’s hope the weather will be kind on us this year and let us make the best use of the Lido that we possibly can, for as long as we can. Surely, after the summers we’ve had recently, we deserve it!