Mystery and adventure will be the order of the day when the Famous Five and Secret Seven take centre stage at this year’s Manx Litfest Family Day.

Each year the literary festival organises a family celebration focusing on well-known authors, books and characters and on Saturday September 26 Enid Blyton’s famous creations will follow in the footsteps of The Gruffalo, Winnie the Pooh and Roald Dahl.

The Famous Five and Secret Seven event will take place at Mooragh Park in Ramsey from 1pm-5pm and the festival organisers would like to thank Sure, which is sponsoring the Family Day for a third year running.

Manx Litfest events coordinator Emma Quirk said: ‘Enid Blyton’s classic books may have been first published in the 1940s, but they remain popular with children today - indeed, more than two million Famous Five books are sold each year, evidence of their enduring appeal.

‘We’ll be setting a series of mysteries, puzzles, games and challenges for children around Mooragh Park - and we’re sure that parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are going to have just as much fun reliving their youth!

‘Joining us for the afternoon will be author and adventurer Jason Lewis, and children’s author Katherine Woodfine, whose debut novel is The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow. And illustrator Martin Impey will be holding two workshops for children – spaces are limited on these, so please book early by emailing bookings@manxlitfest.com. 

‘Our partner bookseller, Bridge Bookshop, will be joining us for the day, as will staff from Ramsey Library, and we are indebted to Sure, of course, our sponsor for the day, and to Ramsey Commissioners for their help and support over the last few months as plans have been progressed.

‘We’re really looking forward to welcoming children and their families to Mooragh Park and hope everyone has a great time. We’ll be providing the ginger beer, and families can either bring a picnic, or grab a bite to eat at the cafe in the park.’

Sarah Jarvis, Marketing Manager at Sure, said: ‘Sure is proud to continue its association with the Family Day at Manx Litfest; the last two years have been great fun and it’s a real pleasure to see whole families enjoying the day.

‘Enid Blyton is one of Britain’s greatest ever children’s authors and we at Sure are looking forward to seeing some of her best-loved characters and stories brought to life!’

Manx Litfest 2015, which is supported by Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin and a number of corporate sponsors, runs from Tuesday, September 22nd through to Sunday, September 27th, with events at venues around the Island. Many of the events are free, and for those that require tickets, they are on sale via the Villa Gaiety Box Office: http://villagaiety.ticketsolve.com/.

The line-up of visiting authors and illustrators includes Joanne Harris, Alan Johnson MP, Matthew Kneale, Viviane Schwarz and Darren Shan.

The full schedule for Litfest 2015 can be found on the website - manxlitfest.com - and printed programmes have been distributed around the Island over the last couple of weeks.

You can also keep up to speed on the latest news via www.twitter.com/manxlitfest and www.facebook.com/manxlitfest.