Harrogate to host UK-exclusive Dan Brown event

Dan Brown is appearing in Harrogate for the exclusive UK launch of his upcoming novel, Origin (Bantam Press).

Tickets are now on sale for the Harrogate International Festivals event, which takes place on 9th October at the Royal Hall in partnership with W H Smith. It will be Brown’s only UK public event.

The £20 price tag for admission includes the opportunity to hear Brown talk about his new book and his life's work, as well as a copy of Origin itself following its 3rd October publication. It is the first Robert Langdon thriller to be set in Spain and to include modern art while promising to be "in keeping with [Brown's] trademark style". The first 200 ticket-holders to the gig bag themselves a guaranteed signed copy.

Victoria Ibbertson, literature festivals manager at Harrogate International Festivals, said it was testament to the event's reputation it had been chosen to host Brown, one of the country's "leading literary destinations". The arts charity delivers two major literary festivals: The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which takes place every July, and the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, taking place in October. 

“We’re really excited to welcome Dan Brown to Harrogate," said Ibbertson. "The fact that he and his publishers, [Bantam Press], have chosen to launch Origin with us is testimony to our Festival’s reputation for positioning Harrogate as one of the country’s leading literary destinations.”

In total Brown has sold 16.1 million print books for £92.6m through Nielsen BookScan in the UK. He shot to global fame with the international hit, The Da Vinci Code - the first in the series to feature Harvard professor Robert Langdon and the second-biggest selling book of all time with 4.52 million print books sold.

Ibbertson added: “Dan Brown is such a global star that the occasion demanded the Royal Hall, and we do expect huge interest from audiences across the UK to catch this rare UK appearance of one of the biggest selling authors of his generation.

"The evening with Dan Brown offers fantastic value as everyone will receive a copy of Dan Brown’s new book in the ticket price. The first 200 bookers are guaranteed a signed copy."

The event begins at 7.30pm on 9th October.

An international book premiere in Frankfurt, including a reading from the German translation of the book from German actor Wolfram Koch, will follow on 14th October.