THE Kings Hall and Winter Gardens is the venue for the annual Ilkley Book Fair (PBFA) to be held on Friday, July 26 from noon to 6pm and again on Saturday, July 27 from 10am to 4pm.

Entrance to the event is free and about 50 dealers will be attending from all over the country. Stalls will be located in the Kings Hall, Winter Garden and Winter Garden balcony offering plenty of space to move around and browse at leisure.

“This year we are delighted to introduce the Book Tree event,” said Louise Harrison, fair manager.

Local charity The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust will be attending the fair and the book tree will be located on their stand.

“We are inviting members of the public to come along and add ‘leaves’ to the tree in order to raise money to plant broad leafed trees in the local area,” added Louise. “For a small donation you can write the name of a favourite book, character, line of prose or poetry on a leaf and then hang it on the Book Tree. We hope to raise enough to plant some real trees and also to create a link between the love of reading and the love of trees.”

Visitors to the fair can expect to find a wide selection of items ranging in price from pocket money books to items of considerable value and rarity - among these will be items concentrating on local history, natural history (with an emphasis on trees and woodlands!) - detective fiction, poetry, industrial history, art, poetry, fine bindings, literature, modern first editions and many more.

“We aim to offer something for everybody and would love to welcome visitors who have not perhaps experienced a book fair before but would like to add to the Book Tree and enjoy a browse through the huge variety of books, printed material and related ephemera on display,” said Louise.

“The fair is a long running and friendly event with many loyal followers who have been supporting the fair for years - we do however need to attract those who have not attended the event before and hope that by introducing the Book Tree that readers young and old will come along and see what is going on.

“Admission is free and the YDMT stall should be manned during most of the time that the fair is open to the public.

“There is a cafe on site which will be offering hot and cold drinks, soup, sandwiches and cakes with extra seating up on the Winter Garden balcony.”