THE first Freshwater Village Book Fayre was hailed a huge success following a weekend of events organised by the parish council.

Among the entertainment was a showing of the film, The Bookstop, starring Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy, at a packed Freshwater Library.

This was followed by a book sale in the Memorial Hall, a publishing workshop for both established and aspiring authors in the library, and live readings by Island authors in Freshwater Coffee House.

Among the authors were Kieran Larwood, Jules Marriner, Suzanne Ravelle and Krissy Lloyd.

Parish councillor Daniel James, who helped organise the event, confirmed it would take place again next year.

He said: "We would like to thank all the authors and readers who took part in this inaugural event, and the venues, local publishers and booksellers who made it possible.

"With your support, our village will host the second Freshwater Book Fayre between September 4 and September 6, 2020."

Freshwater Coffee House owner, Stefan Powell, added: "This has been a fantastic first book fayre for the village, and the feedback suggests we have a fantastic platform to do it even bigger and better next year."