Venues
All the West Port Book Festival venues are great spaces and places, although few are specifically designed to host events. During the festival we had to be creative with space, so if you were flexible you may have been asked to sit on a cushion or a very small chair. If you were wearing sensible shoes, you may have been asked to stand. Solid seating was given to those who needed it most.
Having been established in the splendour of Dundas Street for sixteen years Pringle Booksellers moved to the more modest prospects of West Port in 2003, to the shop previously occupied by Grant and Shaw Booksellers.
Armchair Books has been a favourite stop for bibliophiles for more than fifteen years, who appreciate the way the shop combines an eclectic stock with a sterling regard for the health and safety of its customers.
The Blue Blazer is a traditional Edinburgh pub, a leading light in Edinburgh’s West Port.
145-147 West Port has been a landmark for book lovers for over twenty years now. Formerly known as West Port Books it was saved by the skin of its teeth from becoming yet another cafe two years ago and is now called Edinburgh Books.
Main Point Books – the name says it all. This brilliant wee second-hand bookshop run by Richard Browne is a mecca for fans of the offbeat, an empathy zone for all who love Brautigan and Vonnegut, Orwell and Dick.
Old Town provides a gentle introduction to the sometimes intimidating world of antiquarian books, stocking everything from early 1650s theology and literature to the modern crime fiction of Ian Rankin.
The OWL & LION seeks to blend art, commerce and creative living by continuous collaborations with artists from various disciplines to create unique exhibitions with an innate style, creative challenges and consistent quality of workmanship.
After twenty years in West Port, nestling in the shadow of Edinburgh castle, the ‘frightfully serious’ and very fine bookshop of Peter Bell is a local landmark.
Tea Tree has a trendy but chilled atmosphere, ideal for evening events. It also has the mental rabbit from Alice in Wonderland in its logo.
The Methodist Central hall is an attractive B-Listed building used for all kinds of community events. It is a welcome addition to the West Port Book Festival.
Under the Stairs is a shabby chic basement cafe, five minutes from West Port, that does a good line in effortless cool and fish (in a tank). With exposed walls, intriguing recesses and a medley of old-school furniture it’s a firm favourite with the West Port book crowd.
