Find out how you can celebrate World Book and Copyright Day
World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated on 6 March 2025. From exploring the literary history of the city, to finding your next favourite read at one of our independent book shops, Winchester has a whole world of books just waiting to be discovered.
Celebrate 250 Years of Jane Austen
Marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, Winchester has a host of special events, tours and exhibitions planned to celebrate the remarkable life and works of this beloved Hampshire-born novelist.
Visit Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is laid to rest. Visitors are invited to leave letters and flowers next to Jane Austen’s brass memorial plaque, at the side of her grave.
Just around the corner from Winchester Cathedral is Winchester City Museum, where three of Jane's personal possessions are exhibited – two purses and her personalised ivory spool case.
Just beyond the city, in the village of Chawton, is Jane Austen's House, where she lived, wrote and published her novels. Explore new exhibitions, Jane Austen and the Art of Writing, which celebrates and centres Jane Austen as a ground-breaking and ambitious writer, and Austenmania! which looks back to 1995, an astonishing year of film and TV adaptations that changed the Austen landscape forever.
Walk in the footsteps of John Keats
The English Romantic poet, John Keats, stayed in Winchester during the late summer and early autumn of 1819. Keats enjoyed a daily walk through the Cathedral Close and water meadows to St Cross.
Inspired by the natural beauty of Winchester on Sunday 19 September 1819 he penned his ode ‘To Autumn’ on his return. The area has changed little in the 200 years since Keats visited - take the walk yourself using this self-guided trail.
You will end the Keats Walk at The Hospital of St Cross. Founded in 1136, the hospital is the country’s oldest charitable institution and still functions as an almshouse. Those arriving on foot may ask for the Wayfarer’s Dole, bread and ale which has been given to travellers since the almshouse was founded.
Take a tour of Winchester's bookshops
Winchester is home to a wonderful selection of independent and pre-loved bookshops, so why not do a Winchester bookshop-crawl and find your next favourite read?
The Winchester Bookshop is tucked behind a passageway off St Georges Street, The Winchester Book Shop has three floors of antiquarian, second-hand, vintage and nearly new books.
The Deanery Bookstall is nestled in the Inner Close of Winchester Cathedral. It stocks a wide range of second-hand books of every genre.
Kingsgate Books & Prints is a unique gallery selling prints, antique maps and engravings. You'll find a selection of second-hand books under the archway of Kingsgate.
P & G Wells is Winchesters longest-running business and thought to be Britain's oldest bookshop! Browse a selection of books from bestsellers to local authors.
Watch a book-to-stage adaptation
Theatre Royal Winchester has a stellar programme of stage productions taking place this spring. World Book Day is the perfect reason to enjoy a book-to-stage adaptation.
For the little ones, Tom Fletcher’s Who's in your Book? series is jumping from page to stage on 6 and 7 March. From 21 to 23 March, meet witches, trolls and an ancient ghost in The Baddies, adapted from the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
On 8 and 9 April, Michael Morpurgo's Farm Boy takes to the stage, while Tall Stories presents The Elmer Adventure from 15 to 17 April, a magical, musical adaptation of the much-loved Elmer books by David McKee.
For the grown-ups, Kate Mosse is set to thrill audiences anew with her one-woman show, Labyrinth Live: Unlocking the Secrets of the Labyrinth, on 8 March.
Tess, a groundbreaking circus adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, will be thrilling audiences on 11 and 12 March.
See what's on at Winchester Books Festival
Winchester Books Festival 2025 is taking place from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 April. There is a fantastic line up of more than 25 wonderful and award-winning authors including Dame Kelly Holmes, Judy Murray, Tracy Chevalier, Susie Dent, Simon Heffer and more!
There are also FREE children's events on Friday 25 April, where young booklovers can enjoy story time with local authors and illustrators.
