Become a Sponsor

Our annual festival puts Ilkley on the map. We are the longest-running literature festival in the north of England and the second oldest in the UK. Since 1973, innumerable famous authors have attended the festival – from international figures and Nobel prize winners to poets like Ted Hughes and Benjamin Zephaniah. Headliners from recent years include bestsellers, celebrities and national treasures such as Alan Bennett, Gyles Brandreth, Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman, Alan Titchmarsh, Nadiya Hussain and Clare Balding. The festival attracts regional and national press coverage.

As a charitable organisation, the financial support of our partners and sponsors allows us to develop, operate and deliver our festival each year. We are immensely grateful for the support given to us by local businesses, especially during financially challenging times. In return, our partners and sponsors enjoy a selection of benefits and perks, ranging from online, print and in-person advertising to complimentary tickets.

Find out more about the benefits that come with becoming an event partner, a festival sponsor or advertising with Ilkley Literature Festival and discover our packages below.

For more information or to discuss a bespoke package, please contact kate@wordupnorth.org.uk or call 01943 601210.

Ilkley Literature Festival in Figures (2023)

Runs across two weeks
100 events
21 online events
41 sessions for young people
Featuring more than 100 professional writers, poets and performers
Over 14,000 tickets sold
Over 12,000 brochures distributed
Mailing list of 11,000 subscribers
Over 20,000 followers on social media platforms (across Facebook, X, Instagram and Threads)
94% recommend ILF to family & friends
93% rate the quality of the events good or excellent
92% rate the overall experience good or excellent

Benefits of Sponsorship and Partnership

As a sponsor or partner of our nationally renowned festival we’ll put your business in front of our large, engaged audience. It is an effective way to market your business, increase brand reputation and recognition and reach new audiences via our in-person events, social media platforms and mailing list.

The festival delivers a boost to the local economy, too. It brings in visitors that eat, drink, stay and shop locally whilst taking in festival events. The average spend per attendee in the local economy (including ticket purchases) was £67.46 and the average ancillary spend in the local economy (without ticket purchases) was £19.91 in 2019. Partnership or sponsorship of the festival gives your business a head-start by marketing direct to this audience.

Many of our sponsorship and partnership packages include advance booking for festival events and an allocation of complimentary or discounted tickets. We also offer discounted print, online or in-person advertising rates to many of our sponsors and partners.

Becoming a partner or sponsor of ILF can offer your business real cut-through whilst also helping achieve charitable and social responsibility targets.

Partnership, Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities

Discover our event partnership, festival sponsorship and advertising opportunities.

For more information or to discuss a bespoke package, please contact kate@wordupnorth.org.uk or call 01943 601210.

Event Partnership Packages
£500 – £2,000

Exclusive event partnerships are a brilliant way to get your brand in front of our festival audiences, as well as your favourite authors. They are great for hospitality, rewarding employees or running customer competitions. We host a wide range of events which means you can find an author or topic that aligns with your business values and interests.

Partnership with an Ilkley Literature Festival event includes the following benefits:

Your logo on the event’s specific webpage – at point of online ticket purchase.
Your logo alongside the event listing in the printed and digital brochure.
Your logo in the front of the brochure, accredited as an ‘Event Partner’.
Acknowledgement of partnership on Ilkley Lit Fest website with link to your website.
Partnership promotion via ILF social media platforms.
Partnership acknowledgement logo on screen prior to the start of the event.
Name check and thanks by the interviewer at the start of the event.
Allocation of 10-20 tickets (venue and author dependent) for the sponsored event.
For King’s Hall events, opportunity to host a pre-event reception for guests in the Winter Garden.
For All Saints’ Church events, your brand will also feature in the events live stream to our online audience.
Opportunity to purchase additional tickets to the event before the on-sale date.
Opportunity to put branded materials / signage up in event venue.
Opportunity to purchase reduced rate advertising in the festival official programme.
Two complimentary tickets to a festival reception included.

Festival Sponsorship Packages

BRONZE
£100

Listing in Festival Programme as a ‘Bronze Supporter’.
Listing on Festival website ‘Sponsors Page’.
Advance booking for Festival events.
Optional additional Festival Programme and newsletter advertising offered at reduced rate.

SILVER
£250

Listing in Festival Programme with logo.
Listing on Festival website with logo and click through to your website.
Advance booking for Festival events.
Optional additional Festival Programme and newsletter advertising offered at reduced rate.
Two complimentary tickets to Festival events.
Two complimentary tickets to a Festival reception.
Two discounted tickets to any Festival event (25%).

GOLD
£500

Listing in Festival Programme with logo.
Listing on Festival website with logo and click through to your website
Advance booking for Festival events.
Optional additional Festival Programme and website advertising offered at reduced rate.
One social media post / newsletter mention (across all our platforms) announcing and thanking you and your organisation for your support.
Four complimentary tickets to Festival events.
Four complimentary tickets to a Festival reception.
Four discounted tickets to any Festival event (25%).

Advertising Packages

We have printed and digital advertising options that can be added to any partnership or sponsorship package or purchased stand-alone.

The Brochure Package

There is limited space available for local businesses to advertise in our 2024 Festival programme. Released on 15 August, over 12,000 copies will be distributed from Skipton to Bradford, across North & Central Leeds and locally throughout Wharfedale. The programme is in circulation for 10 weeks and your ad will also feature in the digital version, available on our website.

Inside front page 136mm x 198mm £600
Inside back page 136mm x 198mm £500
Full page 136mm x 198m m £425
Half page 132mm x 94mm £275
Quarter page 63mm x 94mm £200

The deadline for receiving artwork is Friday 19 July.

The Digital Package

Event on-screen advertising

This year we have three exclusive slots for local businesses to feature their advertisement onscreen at ILF events. The ads appear in rotation for half an hour before each event (and to our online audiences before live-streamed events). Your ad would feature in over 100 events across the festival, reaching over 12,000 audience members.

£500 per slot

The deadline for receiving artwork is Friday 06 September.

Email newsletter ads (x6)

Your ads would feature in six of our festival newsletters. Our email newsletters are sent out in the weeks building up to the festival each year to a mailing list of 11,000 subscribers.

£240 per package

The deadline for receiving artwork is Friday 09 August.