The Bloody Scotland Festival programme was unveiled today and Oh My Goodness it is a cracker!! I am so excited it’s hard to contain my enthusiasm!! This year’s is a hybrid programme of physical and virtual events and what that means is the organisers have been able to secure some of the best and most exciting names – and make them available to viewers all over the world.
Stephen King 
Karin Slaughter 
Lee Child
The 2021 Bloody Scotland Festival (17-19 September 2021) will feature some huge names including Stephen King, Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter, Lee Child, Jeanine Cummins, Linwood Barclay and Robert Peston beamed into the Albert Halls where live interviewers will question them in front of a live and digital audience.
Meanwhile pacing the boards in Stirling itself will be the great and the good of the Scottish crime scene including Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre, Marisa Haetzman, Lin Anderson, Abir Mukherjee, Craig Robertson, Alan Parks, Morgan Cry, Craig Russell and Stuart MacBride. Plus some big names from outside Scotland: Paula Hawkins, Luca Veste, Mark Billingham, Mick Herron, S J Watson, Lisa Jewell, Stuart Neville, Kia Abdullah, E S Thomson and Louise Candlish.
Val McDermid 
Abir Mukherjee 
Kia Abdullah
Not only will Bloody Scotland be hosting some stupendous writers, there’s the added highlight of listening to debut writers and new entrants into the world of crime writing with Pitch Perfect and Crime in the Spotlight. There’s a performance by the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers and a cabaret twist on the normal Quiz which will see the quizzers (Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnston, Mark Billingham, Luca Veste and Stuart Neville) performing a musical number.
The Golden Lion panels will be recorded in front of a live audience and broadcast 24 hours later. Hosts of The Red Hot Chilli Writers, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee will be on stage with a live version of their popular crime podcast.
Following last year’s digital first with The Never-Ending panel featuring 27 Scottish writers from home and abroad, this year’s marathon digital only event will be an A-Z of Crime starting with Megan Abbott and concluding with Anne Zouroudi hosted by the crime writers on the Bloody Scotland board. The global element continues with Around the World in 80 Deaths featuring authors from Argentina, the Sicangua Lakota Nation, Russia and Nigeria chaired by Craig Sisterson.
The McIlvanney Prize and The Debut Prize winners will be revealed on the opening night.
The organisers have structured the ticket prices so that you can choose to watch events live in Stirling or online, or a combination of both. If you’re watching online, you can purchase tickets for individual events or a digital pass. There are ticket options to suit all. More info from the Bloody Scotland website, but know that there is an earlybird pass option!
So don’t delay – get yourselves over to the Bloody Scotland website and buy!
There is a discount for local residents and Bloody Scotland continues to improve disabled access with a taxi between venues for those that need it, which for me, right now is a miraculous and wonderful thing…
Festival Director, Bob McDevitt said: ‘It’s going to be a Bloody Scotland like no other but we do love a challenge and I can’t wait to see all of our authors, and crime fans back together in real life while extending our global reach as we beam the festival all over the world.’
Stirling Council Leader, Councillor Scott Farmer said: ‘I’m delighted to welcome back Bloody Scotland to Stirling. The return of this famous event, which showcases the best in Scottish crime writing, is a significant boost for tourism as well as Stirling’s wider economic recovery from the pandemic. Stirling is without doubt an excellent destination for world class events and the hosting of Bloody Scotland does justice to our reputation for hosting further events of this nature.’
COVID NOTE: All events at the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival remain subject to the social distancing guidelines set in place by the Scottish Government and may be subject to last-minute change or cancellation.
Live and Deadly 