Get Reading: stars to entertain thousands at festival in Trafalgar Square

- Hollywood celebrities and famous authors celebrate Evening Standard's award-winning literacy campaign
Getty Images/ Rex Features/ Dave Benett
13 July 2013

Hollywood stars, West End celebrities and some of Britain's most famous authors will entertain thousands of people in Trafalgar Square today to celebrate the Evening Standard's Get Reading campaign.

The six-hour Get Reading festival features 30 live readings and performances, and will see the square turned into a giant stage with interactive screens for a capacity 4,500 crowd.

The star-studded line-up includes Hugh Grant, Rupert Everett, Lily Cole, David Harewood, Warwick Davis, Barbara Windsor, Anthony Horowitz, Malorie Blackman, Niamh Cusack and Kathy Lette.

There will also be live performances from Billy Elliot the Musical, Wicked, Horrible Histories, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and the Sylvia Young Theatre School. In addition, Boris Johnson, Princess Beatrice, Stephen Fry and Malala, the Pakistani teenager who risked her life for education, will give readings or messages of support by video link.

Organised by the London Evening Standard in partnership with NOOK, the family-friendly festival starts at 11am and is free to the public on a first come first served basis, so people are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.

With glorious sunshine forecast, people are advised to bring sun hats, sun lotion and plenty of water, although free water will also be available on site, along with food stands, toilets and baby-changing facilities.

Many of the authors will be signing books after their readings and there will be face-painting, tattoo transfer and origami to add to the entertainment.

The National Gallery is bringing three replicas of paintings, including Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne, onto the square to tell the story behind each picture and add “storytelling with paintings” to the mix.

Jim Hilt, managing director of Barnes & Noble International, owners of NOOK, said he was thrilled that the big day, so long in the planning, was finally upon us and added: “We believe literacy is not just about education but also access. That’s why we have partnered with the Standard’s pioneering campaign. The paper has demonstrated a peerless commitment to tackling literacy and we want to help achieve that mission.”

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The Standard’s award-winning Get London Reading campaign has raised £1 million, including £500,000 from the Mayor’s Fund for London, to put 600 reading mentors into 290 London schools to help 2,000 children.

The teachers have been trained by our campaign partner Beanstalk.

More than 1,000 children from schools supported by our campaign are expected to attend the event.

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