THE Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival launches its biggest ever programme this week, with over 90 public events featuring a dazzling line-up of stars from public life and entertainment, as well as the world of books, and an expansion of the festival site to celebrate the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015.

THE Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival launches its biggest ever programme this week, with over 90 public events featuring a dazzling line-up of stars from public life and entertainment, as well as the world of books, and an expansion of the festival site to celebrate the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015.

The festival, which is at Harmony Garden in Melrose from June 11 to 14, has once again attracted some of the best-known writers, actors, broadcasters and all-round good eggs to the region.

Appearing for the first time this year will be Patricia Hodge, Celia Imrie, Andrew Marr, Jonathan Miller, Dom Joly, Michelle Mone and Terry Waite; meanwhile political giants Alex Salmond and Gordon Brown will also be guesting, in two major events.

Familiar and much-loved faces returning to the festival for sell-out events will include James Naughtie, Peter Snow, Rory Bremner, Sally Magnusson and Christopher Brookmyre.

The Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival will celebrate the Year of Food and Drink in 2015 with an exciting new venue, Eat Your Words, an expansion of the festival site to include a specially-created food and drink-themed tented village in the Orchard opposite Harmony House, and a bustling outdoor street market on St Mary’s Road.

It will host household names from the world of food and drink, including food writers Sue Lawrence and Prue Leith, and wine guru Nikki Welch, as well as live music events of jazz, Americana and swing presented in association with Galashiels based MacArts; while the Born in the Borders Street Market on St Mary’s Road, connecting the two sites, will offer the best in local, fresh produce for sale in a colourful covered market.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the festival will be embracing all things Alice; with events for adults including an exclusive one-off performance featuring Rory Bremner, John Sessions, John Bird and Patricia Hodge, and a host of events for children including treasure hunts, storytelling, and the infamous White Rabbit appearing in costume to meet children throughout the weekend.

For the younger audience, there is the ever popular Family Book Festival running throughout the Saturday and Sunday, with additional events taking place on Friday afternoon. This year includes fun-filled events with best-selling children’s writer David Almond; well-known illustrator Nick Sharratt and firm favourites Vivian French, David Melling and Gill Arbuthnott.

The packed programme also has children’s workshops and craft activities, storytime and rhymetime, as well as pop-up music theatre and storytelling from Scottish Opera.

In addition, on Thursday, June 11, primary schools from across the Borders will attend the Schools Gala Day, sponsored by Knight Frank. Pupils will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of tailored events including: a Jekyll and Hyde workshop by the National Library of Scotland; Battle of Britain with historian James Holland and other fun events with Vivian French, Barry Hutchison and James Campbell.

Festival director Alistair Moffatt said: “We’re proud to present our biggest, most diverse and most tasty Book Festival programme ever. We can, hand on heart, say there is something to entertain everyone over the weekend, whether its opera, politics, adventure, history, cookery or simply superb fiction. Thank you, as always to our headline sponsor Brewin Dolphin, Scottish Borders Council and all our supporters for helping to make this possible.” For more information and ticket details, call the Box Office on 0844 357 1060 or log on to the following website: www.bordersbookfestival.org