Whitby Lit Fest Announce Hugh Bonneville as Surprise Headline Guest

Tickets now on sale for four-day festival featuring John Boyne, Ann Cleeves, Joanne Harris, Si King, Greta Scacchi, Corinne Bailey Rae and more. 

Whitby Lit Fest has announced a major last-minute addition to its 2026 line-up, with Downton Abbey and Paddington star Hugh Bonneville joining the festival as a headline guest. 

Tickets go on sale for this year’s festival today [31 August] available on the Whitby Lit Fest official website. 

The festival, which takes place across Whitby, runs from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 November. 

One of Britain’s best-loved actors, Bonneville is known to millions as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, and as Mr Brown in the hugely successful Paddington films. 

But in Whitby he will be appearing in another role –bestselling children’s author – as he introduces his latest book, Rory Sparkes and the Spy Who Loved Tea. 

Bonneville will take to the stage at the Whitby Pavilion at 1pm on Saturday 21 November for a special family event packed with storytelling, spies, secret codes and some extremely suspicious cups of tea. 

His latest adventure follows unlikely young hero Rory Sparkes, who discovers a series of secret coded messages hidden inside a neighbour’s recipe book and becomes convinced a mysterious family is involved in a covert conspiracy. 

Things become stranger still when Rory’s mum, teachers and seemingly every adult around him develop an obsession with a particularly unpleasant new brand of tea. Could Rory finally have uncovered a genuine spy plot? 

Illustrated by Loretta Schauer, the book combines mystery, mischief and humour and is aimed at readers aged seven to 11. 

Bonneville will talk about creating Rory’s world, bring the story to life and take questions from young audience members and their families. 

His addition provides another major name in an already packed Whitby Lit Fest programme spanning crime, fiction, history, poetry, politics, food, film, children’s literature and the stories of the Yorkshire coast. 

Among this year’s headline guests are John Boyne, author of the international phenomenon The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas with his new novel, The Weight of Angels; Number One Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves, marking 40 years in print and the publication of her 40th novel; Chocolat author Joanne Harris; Hairy Biker Si King; bestselling crime writers Elly Griffiths and Mark Billingham, and internationally acclaimed actor Greta Scacchi. 

The festival will also welcome Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae for a special family event celebrating her picture book Put Your Records On, inspired by her much-loved hit song. 

Other guests across the four days include Peter Oborne, Ch 4’s Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson, Louise Minchin, Lucinda Hawksley, Sally Coulthard, Jess Kidd, Laura Purcell, Andrew Lownie, Alistair Moffat, Sian Williams, Nicky Hambleton-Jones, Zaffar Kunial and many more. 

Events will take place at venues across the town, including Whitby Pavilion, Eighteen91, Flowergate Hall, Whitby Museum, Whitby Library, the Coliseum and the Jet Black Jewel. 

Lois Kirtlan, chair of Whitby Lit Fest, said: “We were already incredibly proud of the programme we had assembled for Whitby this November, so to be able to announce Hugh Bonneville as a surprise addition just as tickets go on sale is fantastic. 

“Hugh is loved by audiences of all ages, from Downton Abbey to Paddington, and we think families are going to have enormous fun discovering another side to him as the creator of Rory Sparkes. 

“The whole programme reflects what we want Whitby Lit Fest to be – big-name writers alongside exciting new voices, events inspired by Whitby and the Yorkshire coast, and everything from crime and history to politics, poetry, food, film and children’s books. 

“We would encourage people to take a look at the full programme and book early, particularly for some of our headline events and smaller-capacity venues.” 

Whitby Lit Fest opens on Thursday 19 November, with bestselling author Jess Kidd launching proceedings with a suitably seaside-themed mystery, before four days of conversations, performances, workshops, family events and literary encounters. 

Hugh Bonneville is at Whitby Pavilions (Northern Lights Suite) on Saturday 21 November, 1pm. Tickets £11 (adults) and £5 (children). 

For the full programme and booking information, visit the Whitby Lit Fest website.

Whitby Lit Fest - Inspired by and Celebrating Whitby