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Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day announced by York Festival of Ideas

Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day announced by York Festival of Ideas

Posted on 2 April 2025

Thousands of schoolchildren from across the country are being invited to take part in a Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day on 3 June as part of York Festival of Ideas.

Michael Morpurgo. Photo credit: Steven Hatton

Organised as a tribute to the renowned author’s power as a writer, communicator and advocate of the arts, the celebration marks his eighth York Festival of Ideas appearance - and his first as Patron.

The centrepiece of the day will be a live online event, hosted by Katie Razzall, BBC News Culture and Media Editor, with schools from across the country joining in. Michael will read excerpts from his new book Cobweb (HarperCollins), inspired by the extraordinary true story of the French Drummer Boy of Waterloo. He’ll also answer children’s questions about his work, research and love of animals and nature.

Katie Razzall said: “Michael Morpurgo’s writing is utterly timeless and relevant to today. I’ve previously been in an audience at York Festival of Ideas as he has read extracts of War Horse and we - adults and children - hung on his every word. I’m delighted to host this online event which will see Michael engage with some of his biggest fans, schoolchildren up and down the country who connect deeply with his prose and understand the power of his stories.”

Theatre concert

On the eve of the Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day, Michael, together with his wife and fellow author Clare Morpurgo and Carol Hughes, who was married to poet Ted Hughes for the last 25 years of his life, will present My Heart Was a Tree: The concert at York Theatre Royal. Poignant poetry readings will be interspersed with music by Elgar, Haydn, Max Richter and Vaughan Williams, performed by the Iddesleigh String Quartet.

The free performance at York Theatre Royal, which includes readings from Michael’s children’s book My Heart Was a Tree (Two Hoots), will be his first as Patron of York Festival of Ideas.

Memorable event

Joan Concannon, Director of York Festival of Ideas, said: “Michael’s wonderful children’s books and moving stage performances have inspired generations of young people with a love of words, reading and the arts. We’re very excited about welcoming schoolchildren from across the country to what will be a unique and memorable event.

“The Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day is a chance for us to honour Michael’s amazing talent, career and impact, and to thank him for his long-standing support of York Festival of Ideas. We are incredibly grateful to Michael for his shared commitment to delivering inspiring, quality events to diverse audiences for free.”

Online poll

As part of the Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day, the Festival is also running an online poll, inviting people to vote for their favourite Michael Morpurgo book, with the results announced on 3 June.

Michael said: “I am hugely honoured to be invited to become Patron of York Festival of Ideas. Over the years, having the opportunity to perform and share my stories as part of a festival that enables everyone to come who wants to come, has been incredibly inspiring.

“York Festival of Ideas’ commitment to making ideas accessible to all by offering free events is something I would love to see happen more often. I strongly believe that there should be no barriers to ideas.

“I’m very much looking forward to returning to York in June and to sharing my stories online with my friends in schools and in person at York Theatre Royal.”

Over 200 events

York Festival of Ideas 2025 will take place from 31 May to 13 June under the overall banner of ‘Making Waves’ with more than 200 mostly free events, in-person and online. Led by the University of York, it’s one of the largest free festivals of its kind in the UK and is made possible by the generous support of organisations including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, LNER, the Morrell Centre for Legal and Political Philosophy, York Central and the French Embassy in the UK. This year’s festival also marks the start of an important new media partnership with The Northern Agenda, part of the Reach Group, which shares the Festival’s values of engaging audiences on issues of significant importance to everyone in the North of England.

School teachers and home educators can register their class or school and find out more information about the free online Michael Morpurgo event on Tuesday 3 June by visiting the York Festival of Ideas website (yorkfestivalofideas.com).

Anyone wishing to book for the free in-person performance of My Heart Was a Tree: The Concert will be able to do so when the 2025 York Festival of Ideas programme goes live on 2 May 2025.