What sustains a landscape? What allows a garden, a community or an ecosystem to flourish? And what might we learn from looking beneath the surface?
Award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant is one of Britain’s most influential voices on gardening, landscape and environmental resilience. In her new book, Soil, she reveals why healthy soil is fundamental not only to the future of our gardens, but to biodiversity, food production, climate resilience and human wellbeing.
The first Black woman to win a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Sargeant has spent her career championing thoughtful, sustainable approaches to gardening and design. For a town renowned for its gardens, creative outdoor spaces and passionate growers, this conversation feels especially timely.
From clifftop gardens and allotments to the wild beauty of the Kent coast, many of us are deeply connected to the landscapes around us. Sargeant invites us to look afresh at the living systems beneath our feet and discover how soil underpins the gardens we cherish, the food we grow and the natural world we depend upon.
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Events last one hour unless otherwise stated, followed by a book signing in The Clearing. Our official bookseller is Waterstones.
Folkestone Book Festival is our annual celebration of stories, ideas and conversation by the sea. Curated by novelist Sophie Haydock (The Flames, Madame Matisse), this year’s festival brings together more than 60 events across two weeks, welcoming world-class writers, thinkers and storytellers to Folkestone.
Discover another event, browse the bookshop, explore Folkestone’s vibrant arts scene, independent cafés, bars and galleries, and share the experience with a friend. The best festivals are as much about the conversations between events as those on stage.
The Festival is part of Folkestone is a Library, our ambitious town-wide celebration of reading, writing and storytelling, helping make Folkestone one of the UK’s most exciting literary destinations.
We believe great conversations should be for everyone, which is why every event includes a £5 Cost of Living Ticket, available with no questions asked.
Please help us spread the word. Together, we’re building a thriving community of readers, writers and curious minds.
Folkestone Book Festival is proudly supported by Eurotunnel, Canterbury Christ Church University, Holiday Extras, and the Friends of Folkestone Book Festival. Creative Folkestone is supported by Arts Council England, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Saga. Founding Funder The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.