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Festival celebrates Murder & Mystery

The English Riviera will be awash with mystery and murder most foul in September, in another fitting celebration of the life and works of the most published author of all time - during 'Agatha Christie Week', which is set to last from September 9th-16th.

The Agatha Christie Festival and Mystery Month will once again transform Torquay and surrounding area into a living history resort, as the Queen of Crime is remembered - in a year which also marks the 70th anniversary of Death on the Nile - through a packed programme of guided walks, theatre, live events, special tours, talks and exhibitions.

It will provide visitors with the chance to step back in time, to take part in period Tea Dances; to dress-up in feather boars and spats during a Murder Mystery Ball; and to take a voyage along some of Devon's most spectacular coastline, in order to get a sneak preview of Christie's former home, Greenway, before it is opened to the public by the National Trust.

And from September 10th to 15th, The Princess Theatre will provide the setting for The Agatha Christie Theatre Company's latest adaptation, of The Unexpected Guest. Credited as one of Agatha Christie's most mischievous and chilling whodunits, the play is filled with the suspense, intrigue and surprise twists that make her one of the world's best-loved authors. And where better to see the play than in her home town, where she spent so much of her life? To book tickets, visit www.kenwright.com.

The full programme of events planned for The English Riviera can now be seen on-line at www.englishriviera.co.uk, and in a newly published leaflet, The English Riviera Agatha Christie Festival and Mystery Month, available by telephoning 01803 211211, or e-mailing tourist.board@torbay.gov.uk

There are many highlights during the full Festival. But the 'Sea and River Voyage from Torquay and Brixham to Greenway' on Thursday, September 13th, is likely to prove irresistible to Agatha's most avid fans. As well as taking-in the Devon coastline, the cruise will also dock at Greenway for a private viewing of the conservators at work as they restore some of the family's amazing collections. That event will cost £45 per person (£40 to NT members).

Other voyages along the coastline are also available during the Festival, along with guided walks along the famous Agatha Christie Mile in the company of Blue Badge Guide and Agatha Christie expert, Joan Nott.

The Murder Mystery Ball at the Grand Hotel, where Agatha Christie spent her brief honeymoon, meanwhile, is scheduled for September 15th. Another very special event will be the outdoor screening of the Christie classic Death on the Nile, starring Peter Ustinov, at Oldway Mansion in Paignton.

Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, the Agatha Christie Shop and one of the smallest cinemas in the UK, The Blue Walnut, and Churston Church are among other venues for the Festival.

Visit www.englishriviera.co.uk for full details.

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For further information, please contact:
Deirdre Makepeace, English Riviera Head of Tourism
Tel: 01803-296296). E-mail: Deirdre.Makepeace@torbay.gov.uk