What to look for in a good writing festival?
Has it been going for a number of years and can supply good feedback from students?
Does it have a good mixture of agents, publishers and experienced writers running classes/giving talks?
Does it cater for novelists, short story writers, poets and script writers?
Does it run its own competitions (not only are these fun to enter but being shortlisted on one of these looks good on your writing CV)?
Does it give a good mixture of classes/talks suitable for beginners, intermediates and the published (who've got useful experience but need to take their career on further)?
Do classes/talk cover a wide range of writing skills - from constructing a story to using technology to promote work?
If you can say yes to all of those, then I'd book your place on that writing festival now!