# Cardiff book-event routes: Literary Escape Festival author table (2027), Beyond the Border closed
Harvested 30 Oct 2026 (skills harvest). Closes the open lead "Cardiff Book Festival / Beyond the Border exhibitor or partner routes" left by the 00:39Z run. Complements festival-pitching-wales-literature-history.md (event pitches to Penarth/Llandeilo etc.), which stays the guide for talk slots; this file is the TRADER-TABLE route in Cardiff itself plus the dead ends. Proposals only: no booking or spend without the project lead's GO.

## What the sources show (read 30 Oct 2026)
- **Literary Escape Festival - Cardiff** (literaryescapeco.co.uk, read):
  - Sat 26 Sep 2026, 10:00-15:00, Cathays & Central Youth and Community Project, Cathays Terrace, Cardiff. Already passed; "Registration for vendors is closed".
  - Ticket types on the page: General Admission 16+ **£3.50**, 15 & under free, **"Vendor- Author £40.00"** (+£1.00 fee). So an author table cost about **£41** in 2026.
  - Format: a one-day grassroots market that "brings together authors and small businesses/crafters under one roof"; debuted in Edinburgh 2025, toured in 2026 (Bath, Birmingham, Dundee, Edinburgh, London, Stirling, Cardiff). Birmingham listing (Facebook, snippet): "Author Market: ... 30 local stalls".
  - The site menu carries **"Application Form - 2027"**: the 2027 round is open or about to open. Dates and price for a 2027 Cardiff stop: not checked.
  - Trader testimony (Instagram post "Literary Escape Festival, Cardiff: THE VERDICT!", search snippet only, author not checked): "the readers of Cardiff [were] a lovely and curious bunch who took their time at each table and really considered each purchase they made." No sales numbers given.
- **Cardiff Book Festival** (the September festival with talks): createdtoread.com tag page calls it "now in its third year ... a great platform for local writers"; Ian Livingstone appeared 23 Sep 2017 (Fighting Fantasy blog); a Facebook post (Anton Du Beke tour) lists "September 8th at Cardiff Book Festival". No official site or 2027 call for proposals found in this run, so whether it still runs and how it takes pitches is **not checked**. Treat it as a talk-pitch target (use the pitching skill), not a trader route.
- **Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival** (Dinefwr, Llandeilo; turned 30 in 2023, 7-9 Jul 2023 per ASIW, 20 Jun 2023): Wikipedia, citing Companies House, states the company running it was **dissolved 24 Aug 2024**. Nothing found for a 2024-2026 edition. Route **closed**; the 2010s Cardiff University "Pioneer Partner" profile PDF names old contacts and should not be used.
- **Cardiff Children's Literature Festival** (25-26 Apr 2026, English and Welsh): children's programme, not a fit for a records-based adult history title.

## The playbook (a trader table at a grassroots book market)
1. **Apply early** in the organiser's own form; markets of about 30 stalls fill. Put the 2027 form date in the calendar the day it opens.
2. **Have physical stock or a physical stand-in.** An e-book-only title cannot be signed. Options: a short print run, or download cards with single-use codes (see ebook-download-cards-gift-shop-events-single-use-codes.md, QR via tools/code_card.py) priced as gifts.
3. **Table kit:** one A-frame or pull-up with the title and one striking record image (own reconstruction or a cleared image only), a sample binder of 3-4 record pages, card reader for payments, a sign-up QR to the newsletter via a /r/ short link so the day is countable (own-short-redirect-links-r-campaign-path-counting.md).
4. **Price for impulse:** a round sum (e.g. £5 card, £10 card + postcard set) and a bundle. Readers "take their time at each table", so a 30-second spoken hook about the farm records matters more than the banner.
5. **Measure:** cards sold, sign-ups via the /r/ link that week, spend (£41 + travel). Break-even at £5 per card is about 9 cards.

## How we apply it to Cedwyn
- **Proposal for the project lead (no spend without GO):** apply for a Cardiff (or nearest) 2027 Literary Escape Festival author table once the 2027 form names a Cardiff date; cost about £41 at 2026 prices; sell e-book download cards for the free-plus-paid editions and take newsletter sign-ups via /r/lef-cardiff-2027.
- Write the HubSpot task as a draft "[BIZDEV PROPOSAL] Literary Escape Festival 2027 author table" with the cost, the break-even and the kit list; nothing is submitted in his name.
- Keep Cardiff Book Festival as a talk-pitch target in the pitching skill's list, with status "not checked: find current organiser before pitching".
- Remove Beyond the Border from any partner list (company dissolved Aug 2024).
- Public text rules apply to table signage: never name the project lead, banned words, no insignia, nothing about family holdings or addresses.

## Sources
- literaryescapeco.co.uk (read 30 Oct 2026: date, venue, £3.50 / £40 vendor-author, vendors closed, 2027 application form in menu)
- facebook.com (snippet: 30 local stalls)
- instagram.com (snippet only: Cardiff trader verdict)
- createdtoread.com ; officialfightingfantasy.blogspot.com (snippets)
- en.wikipedia.org (dissolved 24 Aug 2024, citing Companies House; not re-checked at Companies House)
- asiw.co.uk (read: 30th edition 7-9 Jul 2023)
- visitcardiff.com (snippet)