The Penny Readings Festival: Local Talent tops the Bill

Excitement has been in the air for weeks, and now there are just days until St George's Hall will be taken over by a festive extravaganza as The Penny Readings Festival takes place!

The Reader Organisation will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of our seasonal event by holding a free public Christmas festival from 1.30pm-5.30pm this Sunday, 15th December. There'll be tons of things for the whole family to do all afternoon, including shared reading activity for children and adults, festive entertainment, craft stalls, a Christmas cafe and lots more. Come along and spend an afternoon getting into the Christmas spirit completely for free in the Great Hall.

All this festive fun is ahead of the main events, the Penny and Ha'penny Readings, sponsored by Publiship and Liverpool Learning Partnership. The 10th Penny Readings at 6.30pm in the Concert Room is completely sold out after another hugely successful public raffle took place at the end of last month. If you were lucky enough to be drawn out of Santa's hat, you can look forward to an evening full of festive reading and entertainment, including:

• Paul Farley, award winning author, poet and inspiration for part of Danny Boyle's epic Olympic Opening Ceremony
• Frank Cottrell Boyce
• Music from The Wirral Ukulele Orchestra and i Choir
• Bollywood dancing by RuShee
• Dickens' classics read by Angela Macmillan and Phil Davis

There's all this alongside the famous Reader raffle, with the opportunity to win some wonderful Christmas goodies from the likes of Waterstones Bold Street, Serious Readers, John Lewis Liverpool and Royal Court Theatre. The Christmas season will start in true Reader style in a jam-packed event that Charles Dickens himself would surely be proud of.

Keep your eyes on The Reader Online over the next few days for more on the events and the special free Penny Readings Festival. Got your ticket? Share your excitement with us on Twitter, using the hashtag #PennyReadings