Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

Experience the magic of our Spiegeltent... Wednesday 18 July, Crescent Gardens, Harrogate Have you booked a place on Creative Thursday or are you around in Harrogate the night before the Crime Writing Festival officially kicks off on the Thursday? Then don't miss out on some exclusive events, taking place as part of the diverse Harrogate International Festivals programme, including a tour of the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of Elizabethan England with historical crime author James Forrester and an exclusive crime themed Salon North event, with three expert speakers from the worlds of science, art and psychology. Read on to find out more...

James Forrester: A Sensory Ride Through Elizabethan England Wednesday 18 July, Spiegeltent, 6pm We think of Queen Elizabeth I as ‘Gloriana’: the most powerful English woman in history. But what was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time? Audience members should be prepared for some surprises in an event with James Forrester that will take place in near darkness complete with the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of the Elizabethan period. Tickets £8 Box Office: 01423 502 116 Book Online SALON North Wednesday 18 July Spiegeltent, 8pm ART : Scents and Misdeamours Odette Toilette PSYCHOLOGY : Virtual Autopsy Dr Suzy Lishman SCIENCE : Mind Reading 101 Philip Escoffey Three experts speakers each have 30 minutes to involve the audience in an area of their life’s work. Speakers include: Odette Toilette on ‘Scents and Misdemeanours’ – looking at the use of smell in crime fiction; Dr Suzy Lishman, Vice-President of the Royal College of Pathologists showcasing a ‘Virtual Autopsy’; and acclaimed mind reader Philip Escoffey, who will be on hand to explain the tricks of the con-artist’s trade with his slot 'Mind Reading 101'! Tickets £12 Box Office: 01423 502 116 Book Online Edinburgh Comedy Preview : Tiffany Stevenson: Uncomfortably Numb Wednesday 18 July Spiegeltent, 10pm The battle against ageing is more than skin deep. Tiffany goes beneath the grimy epidermis to uncover class hatred, racism and sexism. Maybe it’s time to start giving a sh*t… ‘A stroke of genius, witty, well-constructed and full of jokes’ **** (Sunday Telegraph). ‘One of the best things to come out of Show Me The Funny, she is a rising star’ (Evening Standard). ‘Mouthy, cynical and sexually frank, she left us wanting more’ (Guardian). Tickets £9 Box Office: 01423 502 116 Book Online