Creative Thursday
- Thursday 17 July 2025 | 9.00 am – 5.45pm
- Location | The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate
- Ticket: £115.00 (includes a two course lunch and break refreshments).
- Please note that all transactions are subject to a £2.50 booking fee. A maximum of six tickets can be booked at one time.
- Please note – If you purchase a ticket for this event you do not need to purchase a separate site pass.
Bookings will open to Friends of the Festival and Weekend Break Packages bookers at 10am on Tuesday 28 January 2025. To access priority booking, please ensure you are logged into your account.
General Bookings open Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 10.00am
Wherever you are on your writing journey, whether the first page or the final draft, Creative Thursday has what you need to make that dream come true. Covering all aspects of the business – including giving you the chance to pitch your book to those at the top of the tree – Creative Thursday is immersive, instructive and invaluable.
The day is set to let you tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience shared by bestselling crime writers, editors, agents and publishers, and to make sure you leave armed with everything you need to turn your great idea into a great book.
Whilst the programme is yet to be announced for our Creative Thursday course, see below an outline of the schedule of the day:
- MORNING PANEL | 9.15am – 10.30am
- THE PITCH | 10.30 – 10.45am
- COFFEE BREAK | 10.45am – 11am
- WORKSHOPS (Group A: Workshop 1 / Group B: Workshop 2) | 11am – 1pm
- LUNCH BREAK | 1pm – 2pm
- WORKSHOPS (Group B: Workshop 1 / Group A Workshop 2) | 2pm – 4pm
- COFFEE BREAK | 4pm – 4.15pm
- DRAGON’S PEN | 4.15 – 5.30pm
- CLOSE OF CREATIVE THURSDAY | Finishes by 5.45pm
Please note that the schedule is approximate and may change slightly to fit the panels and workshops. The programme will be announced early Spring.
The Jane Gregory Bursaries
We are pleased to confirm that our Jane Gregory Bursaries will return for 2025.
Created to ensure access to the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the epicentre of the crime fiction world, and to develop opportunities for readers and writers of all backgrounds. The bursaries are centred around our Creative Thursday writing day which has provided the foundations and growth for a range of now successful writers in the genre.
Please click the link below to find our more information and to apply to our bursaries. Please submit your application by Friday 18 April 2025, and we will notify you of the outcome by Friday 2 May 2025.
Ticket Collection: All tickets for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival are to be collected from our on-site box office, located at the entrance of the Old Swan Hotel, from 3.00pm on Thursday 17 July 2025. The box office will remain open throughout the Festival weekend. Collection of tickets prior to 17 July will not be possible.
NB: Guests taking part in Creative Thursday will be able to access the Old Swan Hotel to register from 8.00am on Thursday 17 July 2025. More information will be sent out nearer to the Festival.
All events will be at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, HG1 2SR. Please note that there is no parking available at the Old Swan Hotel.
For more details, view our #TheakstonsCrime FAQ here