THE growth of Dorchester's annual Literary Festival is being held back by a lack of a suitable large venue in the county town and parking problems.

Town councillors have been told that most events are fully booked, although organisers could accommodate larger audiences – if a larger venue was available.

Ideally the team behind the October event would like to have the use of a building which could seat 500 but can usually only cope with half that number at the Dorford Centre. This year the County Museum's Victorian Gallery, which will be undergoing repairs, is unavailable for the festival, adding to the problem.

One of the festival directors, Paul Gleeson, told a town council meeting that over 13 years the festival had grown from 12 events to over 40 with around 5,500 attending – the number rising to almost 10,000 when special events for children and young people were added in.

Mr Gleeson said the event had been of benefit to local businesses with around 20per cent of those attending coming from outside the county, using local hotels, b&b and pubs, restaurants and cafes with the festival each year donating to local charity – including presenting £3,500 to the Weldmar Hospice.

He said he believed the festival did have room to grow, although its intimate venues was one of the attractions, allowing those attending to get close to the speakers.

Mr Gleeson said that other problems were the lack of public parking near the Dorford Centre and suitable drop-off points for less mobile guests who needed to be driven as close as possible to venues.

Details of this year's speakers will be announced in July when around 6,000 brochures will become available with the full programme details, with volunteers needed to help as stewards and in other roles.

The Festival was founded by Janet Gleeson and Paul Atterbury who discussed the idea while travelling back from Devon where they had attended a literary festival – the Dorchester event now registered as a Community Interest Company.

Over the years it has attracted many high-profile speakers including Robert Harris, Prue Leith, Tracy Chevalier and Max Hastings with this year's event, from October 17-24 expected to include Alison Steadman and Victoria Hislop, among many others.

A County Museum spokersperson said that the Victorian Hall is expected to remain open throughout 2026, with only occasional closures of the hall to ensure public safety while works take place.

"Unfortunately this decision was not made in time to enable us to participate in the literary festival, as they had already found an alternative venue."