The Harrogate History Festival only began in 2013 and is. as yet. far less crowded, frenetic or boozy than the Crime Festival nor does it overwhelm the town and fill every hotel. However, it is rapidly becoming THE place to go if you write, read or are interested in any kind of historical fiction. In the same way the Crime Festival also features 'real' crime and the detection of crime (I seem to recall interviews with a criminal pathologist and also a detective on police procedure in previous years), the History Festival also features talks by and interviews with historians and museum curators. In 2013, THE sell-out events was a talk by the determined lady who discovered Richard III's bones interred in a municipal car-park in Leicester.
The main difference is the time of year. Although the weather was unseasonably warm this year, it is held in October so no sunbathing on the grass or quaffing iced Pimms in the shade! (instead, this year, we got a horde of Vikings storming us in the dark brandishing flaming torches!)
And in the same way as the Crime Festival features all kinds of crime writing from, say, Scottish 'Noir' to a reappraisal of Agatha Christie, (who famously was discovered incognito in the very hotel where both Festivals take place) the History Festival is for every kind of historical fiction writer or reader. There's something for everyone. After all, what you did yesterday is now history. So the range is wide-open. And it'n not only the kind of history you learned at school. You can enjoy alternate history. (The Germans invaded Britain. The Confederate Army won the American Civil War etc etc. Steam-punk is a historical fiction genre. So, if you're a historical crime writer, or whether you write about Romans. Vikings, Incas, Greeks, Nazis, Victorians or the Swinging Sixties, you're welcome. As for time-slip, the keynote speaker in 2013 was Kate Mosse who wrote the Labyrinth series. The sky's the limit when it comes to historical fiction as well as crime.
Do come. I hope to see all of you there in 2015.
It all sound very interesting, Sally. I like the sound of it and would be interesting in coming along. I'm not quite sure if we will come up for the festivals next year, but we will be coming up to Whitby for a week in the summer. When I know what the dates are I shall let you know and hopefully it is when you are about for a get together and a chat.
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