International Agatha Christie Festival
The International Agatha Christie Festival (IACF) aims to use the extraordinary power and reach of Torquay-born Agatha Christie’s global reputation to promote local engagement and participation in literature and the arts, help the recovery and growth of the local economy and wider efforts to increase tourism, and support work to understand and promote the area’s literary and geological heritage.
Building on a legacy dating back to the first event in 1990, the Festival is widely recognised as the premier cultural event on the English Riviera. Bringing together local people and Christie followers across Britain and around the world, the Festival celebrates Christie’s life and legacy, and includes high profile speakers, performances of her plays and poetry, and unique events.
In its work, IACF is supported by Agatha Christie Ltd and the Christie family, her publishers, fans and academics as well as by many of the countless artists and writers inspired by her work. It also works closely with private, public and third sector partners in Torbay and South Devon including the English Riviera Business Improvement District Company.
Since 2018, the charity that delivers the Festival has been funded through Arts Council England's National Lottery Project Grant programme.
As well as staging an accessible and diverse Festival programme, IACF creates and delivers through the year community arts projects to support those currently under-represented in participation and performance in the arts in Devon or who are in some way at risk. It funds these by drawing on the funding it receives from Arts Council England and its own income, as well as grant funding provided by trusts and foundations; for 2021 these include The Colwinston Charitable Trust, The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Elmgrant Trust, The Linbury Trust and The Rosalind Hicks Charitable Trust. IACF is also supported by private donations.
IACF is an Associate Partner of the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark.
In March 2024, The Agatha Christie Festival has been awarded official patronage from the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO.
The patronage is in recognition of its alignment with UNESCO educational and cultural goals. Torquay-born Agatha Christie remains both icon and phenomenon with global reach, attracting writers and performers across UK and overseas to speak at the Festival which is dedicated to celebrating Christie’s life and written legacy in inventive ways.
Year-round the Festival promotes literacy and a love of reading, particularly engaging children and young people in Torbay.
