Bookville Festival in a Book – Design Brief
Brief Festival overview
Bookville is a festival for families and children between the ages of 0 – 12 years managed by Kilkenny Library Service and Kilkenny Arts Office. It is a multi-disciplinary festival with a strong emphasis on books, literature, writing and illustration. 2026 is the 9th Bookville festival.
Bookville Festival 2026 will feature live workshops, virtual workshops, an exhibition, and a Bookville Festival book.
Bookville Festival Book
The Bookville Festival book was first launched in 2020, and has been included each year due to its continued popularity.
Approximately 12,5000 books will be printed and distributed to every primary school child in county Kilkenny and to all eight library branches. Previous year’s Bookville Festival books can be seen on www.bookvillekilkenny.com
Target Audience: This year the activity book will be aimed at children of primary school age 5 to 12.
Personality and style: Exciting / fun / vibrant / inspirational for children, teachers, parents and guardians.
Festival Title & Theme 2026: Wild and Wonderous Things
This year, Bookville will embrace a theme that celebrates and explores the wild and wondrous world we live in, inviting young and old alike to discover, question, reflect, and reconnect with the environment we share. There is still wildness in our midst, still questions waiting to be asked, and countless answers yet to be found, and who better to lead the way than the youngest most inquisitive among us!
The words and language we use and the stories we tell shape how we think and feel about ourselves and our environment, the Irish language especially, revealing what we value and hold dear. This festival will journey through the words, stories, myths, and science helping us to connect and make sense of the amazing planet we are part of.
Filled with captivating stories, engaging workshops, lively events, an exhibition and inspiring performances, Bookville 2026 promises to spark curiosity, ignite imagination, and foster deep connections between children, families, and the natural world, to celebrate all the wondrous things we can do to care for it.
Content needs to be in-line with the current Primary School curriculum.
Design medium: 28-page book – Book size A4
Content requirements:
• The designer is responsible for developing and illustrating the content, and the design and layout.
• Content should consist of a variety of playful and engaging activities and be true to each individual selected author / illustrator. Authors will be selected in advance by the Bookville Festival committee.
• We will require ten separate activities with two pages per activity, accounting for twenty pages.
• Graphics for the front and back cover will be supplied.
• Content for the remaining pages will be supplied.
Design items: A PDF format of the entire book and PDFs for each page individually will be required.
Timeline
• Proposal submission deadline – 27th February
• Designer to start – 20th March
• First draft – 5th June
• Second draft – 19th June
• Final approved copy – 26th June
Reporting: Nicky Read – Bookville Festival Creative Director and Coordinator is the main
point of contact on all aspects of the activity book.
This project is brought to you by Kilkenny County Council Library Service and Arts Office
and supported by Creative Ireland and the Arts Council of Ireland
BOOKVILLE IN A BOOK – CONTENT CREATOR / DESIGNER / ILLUSTRATOR
Person specification / criteria
• Proven ability to create and illustrate playful, engaging activities.
• Proven ability to undertake design and layout of the festival book.
• Knowledge and awareness of the primary school curriculum.
• An understanding of how the activities would translate to the classroom setting.
• Understanding of Bookville festival, its aims and objectives.
• Evidence of producing education material for arts / creative programmes.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to build and manage relationships with relevant external personnel and organisations.
• Highly motivated with good time management and ability to work to tight deadlines.
Other
• Collaborative applications (e.g. with a designer and educator) will be considered. One named person to take the lead role as contact for the Festival coordinator.
Tax: The successful applicant will be responsible for all taxes which arise from any payment
by Kilkenny County Council of the agreed fee including and without prejudice the generality
of this provision.
Kilkenny County Council invites a proposal for an initial one-year contract, with the option,
at the sole discretion of the awarding authority, to extend for a further three periods of one
year each (max 4 years total), for the provision of the content development & illustration of
the Bookville Book
Application process:
• Cover Letter, outlining relevant experience for the role
• A PDF portfolio of previous relevant work or link to your portfolio
• Curriculum vitae
• Designers fee (inclusive of VAT if relevant)
• Please ensure that your application is sent as one PDF max size of 10 MB
The deadline for receipt of applications is 27th February.
Please e-mail your application to: Mary.Butler@kilkennycoco.ie
SUBJECT LINE IN E-MAIL: Bookville Festival Book designer
This project is currently supported by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, Kilkenny County
Library Service, the Arts Council of Ireland and Creative Ireland
