Date: Saturday 7th March 2026
Times: 11am – 3pm
Location: Boscombe Sovereign Centre
Key Takeaways
Bournemouth Coastal BID and Creative Kids hosted a free World Book Day event at the Sovereign Centre in Boscombe.
The event attracted families and increased footfall, benefiting local businesses.
Activities included interactive storytelling, arts and crafts, and a book review podcast activity for children.
The day ended with a costume catwalk inspired by favourite story characters.
The event helped promote creativity, community engagement, and Boscombe’s growing arts identity.
World Book Day Magic Brings Families Together in Boscombe
Bournemouth Coastal BID, working in partnership with Creative Kids, brought a burst of imagination and creativity to the Sovereign Centre with a lively World Book Day celebration that attracted families from across the community.
The free event transformed the centre into a welcoming hub of storytelling, creativity and colourful costumes, drawing families into Boscombe and creating increased footfall that supported local traders while providing a fun, engaging day for the community.
Children and parents enjoyed interactive storytelling where young readers helped choose the stories and even took turns reading aloud with local performing arts groups, creating a relaxed and engaging way to celebrate books and imagination.
Creative Kids activities encouraged children to design character badges, draw their favourite story characters and bring books to life through hands on arts and crafts. A popular podcasting activity also gave young visitors the chance to record reviews of the books they love, learning new skills while sharing their enthusiasm for reading.
The celebration ended with a lively costume catwalk where children proudly showcased outfits inspired by their favourite stories, delighting the audience and bringing the day to a joyful close.
Creative Kids, a Boscombe based arts education charity, supported the event as a key partner. The organisation delivers creative programmes, including after school and holiday arts clubs for children aged 6 to 14, helping young people build confidence, develop new skills and access the arts in a supportive environment.
The event highlighted the value of community focused activities in bringing families into Boscombe, entertaining visitors and creating a positive atmosphere for local businesses. It also further helped to establish Boscombe as the ongoing anchor of the arts district of BCP.
Bournemouth Coastal BID would like to thank Creative Kids and everyone who attended for helping to make the event such a success.
For further information please contact
Sonia Shaw
Operations and Marketing Manager
Bournemouth Coastal BID
