Travel concerns cancel Alderney Literary Festival

A Channel Islands literary festival will not go ahead this year due to "travel uncertainty and spiralling costs", organisers say.

The Alderney Literary Festival has run every year since 2014, excluding 2021 due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Festival founder Isabel Picornell said it had been a "difficult decision", but added it was not possible to get guest authors, professional support staff and regular festival-goers to the island on schedule. She said 80% of attendees would travel from off-island.

Organisers also said uncertainty around the future of Alderney's runway meant the 2027 festival could "suffer the same fate" because it was not known when or if the airport could close for works.

Guernsey officials warned Alderney Airport may need to close for an "extended period" to complete the scheme in the shortest time. Work could start in 2027.

The proposed works involve resurfacing and realigning the main asphalt runway, along with the taxiway, with a tendering process to begin depending on the outcome of a States debate expected to take place in February.

Picornell said: "We have many world-renowned authors wanting to come to Alderney, along with regular visitors from overseas, including Guernsey and Jersey, so this news will disappoint a lot of people."

Organisers said the festival had been previously deliberately scheduled in March, during so-called tourism "shoulder months", to bring people to Alderney when there were fewer tourists. However, flight frequency is also reduced during those months.

The Alderney Literary Trust said it hoped hopes to organise more single-author events as an alternative.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.