Crime Fiction Festival Returns To Whitley Bay

Bay Tales Live, the North East’s biggest Crime Fiction event, returns in March

Following popular demand, the team behind Bay Tales have announced details of their second annual live one day crime fiction festival at Whitley Bay Playhouse on Saturday March 4th, 2023.

The event comes on the back of the duo’s inaugural event, which was held in February 2022, and will feature local authors Ann Cleeves OBE and Trevor Wood, alongside more than 15 of the UK’s bestselling crime and mystery writers.

“We’re thrilled with the authors joining us,” says Simon Bewick; co-director of Bay Tales. “We’ve got Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers, Richard and Judy Pick authors, award winners as well as several with work coming to BBC, ITV, Netflix and Paramount Plus soon.”

“Bay Tales Live 2023 will be even bigger and better, with more community involvement,” says Vic Watson. “We’re not just focusing solely on household names. Feedback from our first show indicated that audience members enjoyed being introduced to writers they weren’t already familiar with. Simon and I remain committed to giving writers that readers may not yet know a platform to be discovered. In addition to the five main panels, we’re also planning extra elements to ensure that we shine a spotlight on as many authors as possible.”

“About a third of the audience at the first show were people coming from outside the North East,” Simon says. “And they loved Whitley Bay – we even had one couple tell us they’re intending to move up here permanently! We worked closely with several local businesses for that event, but we’re going to be doing much more for 2023. We’re working with pubs, restaurants and cafes to provide offers for show attendees, we’ve got The Bound bookshop on-site all day selling books, and between now and March we’re working with local charities on some special elements for the show.”

One difference for the pair is the fact that Whitley based author of Vera, Shetland and the Matthew Venn series, Ann Cleeves, OBE, has taken on the official role of patron following her support behind the scenes. Ann says, “The first Bay Tales was a delight from start to finish and the whole town can’t wait to welcome everyone back in 2023.”

“We’re so grateful to have Ann’s support,” Vic says. “She’s been behind us all the way since we started our online shows and to have her as our official patron is such an honour. It’s incredible that someone so pivotal in the crime writing world - and the north east - has backed us.”

Ann will be kicking off the show along with her special guest, Northern Irish award-winning author, Brian McGilloway. Following her keynote session, Ann says she’s looking forward to watching the four panel discussions to follow, featuring more than 15 authors running throughout the day.

The Doors Open at 08:45, and the Show Starts: 09:30 on Saturday March 4th. The full list of Confirmed Authors are:Ann Cleeves, Brian McGilloway, Abir Mukherjee, Ruth Ware, Jack Jordan, Lin Anderson, Trevor Wood, Jo Callaghan, Fiona Cummins, Alex North, C.J Tudor, Laure Van Rensburg, Lia Middleton, CM Ewan, Jonathan Whitelaw, Nasheema Lennon and Karen Woods.

You can find the full line up details at www.baytales.com/baytaleslive2023

All day tickets are available now online or in person at the box office at Whitley Bay Playhouse for £35 (plus booking fee) or direct from the Bay Tales team via baytales20@gmail.com