Jacqueline Wilson heads to IWM London’s first Big Story Festival at half-term

Dame Jacqueline Wilson is among the children’s authors appearing at the first Big Story Festival at IWM London. The two-day family event runs on Sunday 25 and Monday 26 October 2026, during half-term.

The museum plans to hold the festival every year, and this first edition falls in the National Year of Reading. Families can expect talks by authors alongside workshops and activities for children of every age.

Authors at the Big Story Festival

Dame Jacqueline Wilson will be joined by Judith Eagle and Tom Palmer, and families need to book places for their talks. The authors will appear along a literary trail through the Childhood in War exhibition. Some will also be at the IWM Bookshop, where young readers can put questions to them and have their books signed.

Some of the activities are free. Will Hughes, an illustrator, is hosting a drop-in drawing session open to children aged 8 and up. Anna Bruder of A Line Art has designed a colouring mural that visitors fill in together, based on themes from the exhibition. Family tours will run on both days. They pick out stories from IWM’s permanent collection that children can use as ideas for their own drawings at home.

Childhood in War exhibition at IWM London

The festival’s themes come from Childhood in War, IWM London’s major exhibition for 2026, which is free and runs from 31 July 2026 to 28 February 2027. IWM describes it as the first exhibition in the UK about the effect of conflict on young people. It covers the period from the First World War to the present day.

Personal testimonies sit alongside objects and interactive displays. Together they show how war reaches into children’s schooling and play, and into their health and safety at home. Entry to the festival is free, but some activities are paid. Full details are on IWM’s Big Story Festival events page.