Dear book lovers,

The idea for BOOKS IN THE PARK came from a few book-loving community gardeners who volunteer regularly at Beckenham Place Park. We wanted to combine our love of books with our love of nature and felt the park would be the perfect setting to bring our dream of a book festival to life.

As volunteers we have seen the positive effects on our own health and wellbeing from spending time in nature and we want to inspire local people to come along and enjoy the park in a new way.

We created Arts in the Park Community Interest Company to help us do that and BOOKS IN THE PARK will be our first event.

For anyone who's visited the park, you know it's a very special place. Its wildlife, wide open spaces, lake, community garden and ancient woodland, create a wonderful green hub for the diverse communities who live around it. It is not hard to see why it sparked our idea to create an annual book festival with a focus on nature that is welcoming and inclusive to all.

We  hope BOOKS IN THE PARK fulfills that goal.

We're hugely grateful to our tiny team of volunteers who made this event possible, to the many sponsors who want to see it succeed, to all our partners both inside and outside the park who share our vision for Beckenham Place Park, and last, and by no means least, to the wonderful creators who will be sharing their work       with you.

Frances Fuller, Angela Himus, Sue Rivas