FESTIVAL of Literature organiser Matt Holland says this year's event is going so well it has taken 30-years off his age.

Matt, 56, says the drama and excitement of organising Swindon's three-week celebration of the spoken word has left him "breathless with delight" so much so he feels 26 again as the festival reaches its halfway point.

Today is Children's Day at Steam from 10am to 5pm, while Giffords Circus at Lawn Woods and royal correspondent Jennie Bond offer alternative entertainment.

"A publisher came up to me and said rather casually the Swindon Festival of Literature was in the top five festivals of its kind in the country," said Matt. "That is nice, but people have remarked on what a fantastic range we have this year. The past two years have been brilliant, but already we have surpassed them and you can feel the buzz around town.

"We've forgotten about the people who say there is a cultural void in Swindon and are just enjoying people celebrating the right words in the right place."

Already many afternoon shows, like Michael Rosen's appearance on Thursday at the University of Bath in Swindon, and celebrity cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's date at the arts centre on Wednesday have sold out.

For the first time this year the festival stretches over three weeks, such is the popularity of the event and demand for tickets.

And with half the festival left there are plenty of poets, storytellers, diarists, columnists, activists, comics and performers still to come, including Mark Thomas, Kate Adie, Libby Purves and Richard Ingrams.

Matt added: "People have come up to me and said there are so many acts that they can't possibly see them all and I think there's definitely something for everyone this year.

"People love coming together in their hundreds to hear the spoken word night after night, day after day, without videos, flashing lights or being bombarded by images.

"These acts are more powerful than a Hollywood film. Organising the festival is the hard part, the rest of it is a remarkably simple format."