Dan Brown to Make Exclusive UK Appearance in Harrogate

Tickets are now on sale for Harrogate International Festivals’ exclusive UK launch of Dan Brown’s, new thriller, Origin in partnership with WHSmith.

The American thriller writer who shot to global fame with the international hit, The Da Vinci Code featuring the Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, will appear in Harrogate to launch his new book and discuss his life’s work.

Hosted at the Royal Hall on October 9, it will be Dan Brown’s only UK public event.

Victoria Ibbertson, Literature Festivals Manager at Harrogate International Festivals, said: “We’re really excited to welcome Dan Brown to Harrogate. The fact that he and his publishers, Penguin, 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.”

Victoria added: “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 arts charity delivers two major literary festivals. The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival every July, known as the world’s biggest and best celebration of the crime genre, and the acclaimed Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, picked by Harper’s Bazaar as one of the UK’s Best Literary Festivals. Hosted this October, it welcomes stars from stage, screen, literature and politics, including Victoria Hislop, Joan Bakewell and Dame Jenni Murray.

The Festival has hosted a number of exclusive one-off book launches over the years with bestselling authors.

Jo Nesbo, whose adaptation of The Snowman is released in cinemas this October, launched his book Blood on Snow in 2015 in Harrogate. In 2016, it was the turn of one of the biggest names in the genre, Michael Connelly, who launched The Wrong Side of Goodbye. The latest, in May 2017, featured Girl on the Train author Paula Hawkins, who launched her follow-up Into the Water, in Harrogate.

However, only a handful have appeared at the Royal Hall: David Suchet in a special celebration of Poirot in 2013; JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith in 2014; and this year, Ian Rankin, as he marked 30 years of Inspector Rebus.

Victoria said: “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.”

Brown’s spellbinding new novel sees the return of Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, as he arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever”. The evening is blown apart before the discovery can be revealed. On a trail marked only by enigmatic symbols and elusive modern art, Langdon must uncover the clues that will bring him face-to-face with a world-shaking truth that has remained buried – until now.

Dan Brown, who lives in New England, is the bestselling author of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and most recently, Inferno. Three of his Robert Langdon novels have been adapted for the screen by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks.

The Wall Street Journal dubbed him ‘the master of the intellectual cliff-hanger’.

Dan Brown, the Royal Hall, 9 October, 7.30pm. Tickets: £20 includes a copy of Origin in the ticket price; the hardback which is out on general release on 3 October, retails at £20. The first 200 to book will get a guaranteed signed copy. Book online at harrogateinternationalfestivals.com or BOX OFFICE: 01423 562 303.