Ilkley BID was proud to support the 2025 Ilkley Literature Festival, which brought leading writers, performers and thinkers to the town from 3rd–19th October 2025.
The 17-day festival featured 90 in-person events and more than 110 professional writers, poets and performers. Over 13,800 tickets were sold, demonstrating the festival’s continued importance to Ilkley’s cultural life and visitor economy.
As well as supporting the wider festival, Ilkley BID was the exclusive event partner for Mary Portas: I Shop, Therefore I Am, held at the King’s Hall on Thursday 9th October.
An evening with Mary Portas
The event was one of the highlights of the 2025 programme and proved extremely popular.
Mary Portas shared the story behind her career in British retail and discussed her book, I Shop, Therefore I Am. Drawing on her experiences during the transformation of Harvey Nichols in the 1990s, she explored changing shopping habits, the reinvention of British fashion and the importance of trusting your instincts and taking creative risks.
The partnership gave Ilkley BID and Discover Ilkley a strong presence at the event and across its promotion, helping to showcase our work to a large and engaged audience. A limited number of complimentary tickets were also offered to BID-registered businesses.
Encouraging festival visitors to explore Ilkley
The Literature Festival attracts thousands of people to Ilkley, providing an important opportunity for the town’s shops, hospitality venues and other local businesses.
To help businesses benefit from the increased footfall, we ran a dedicated Ilkley Literature Festival Offers campaign through the Discover Ilkley website. BID businesses were invited to provide special offers for festival ticket holders, encouraging visitors to spend more time exploring the town, eating and drinking locally, and discovering Ilkley’s independent businesses.
The offers were promoted through Discover Ilkley’s website and social media channels in the lead-up to and throughout the festival.
Supporting Ilkley’s cultural and visitor economy
Our partnership with the Ilkley Literature Festival formed part of Ilkley BID’s wider commitment to supporting major events that raise the town’s profile, attract visitors and create opportunities for local businesses.
The festival has been part of Ilkley’s cultural identity since 1973. By supporting both the wider programme and the successful Mary Portas event, we helped to reinforce Ilkley’s reputation as a vibrant destination for culture, creativity, independent businesses and memorable visitor experiences.
