The Christmas season festivities, or community winter activities, kick off on the 5th of November with Bonfire night. We will all go down to the Hoe and watch a big bonfire. We’ll stare into the fire. Our neighbours will stare into the fire. And we’ll all get those deep and meaningful facial expressions people get when they stare into the fire. And it will be official – Winter, she has arrived. Looking forward to that sense of community warmth and closeness I felt at the fireworks evening earlier this year.

The whole post would have been about the Bonfire evening – except that another Literary Festival somehow popped out of nowhere, having flown under the radar when planning was done. This one is too close and too big to ignore, so it had to be added quickly, even though it takes place on the very day of the Bonfire. The Exeter Literary Festival happens 5-7 November, and there are loads of historical, writing craft, informative and entertaining workshops, talks and events.