We’ve been working on the international line-up for Venice Noir 2026 for months… and I’m delighted to tell you now it’s done.

Unfortunately I’m not going to tell you what we have in store. Only that it’s even bigger and better than last year, now running across four days, and we’ve added La Fenice opera house to our venues.

If you want to find out the rest come along to the great Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate next weekend here’s the chance to be the first to hear — and meet some of the team.

We’ll be previewing the festival at a special event on the Swift Half Stage on Saturday July 25. I’ll be there along with my fellow co-founder Philip Gwynne Jones, Erin Kelly, one of our early author supporters, and Suzy Lishman, pathologist star of last year’s festival who’s returning this year to teach us all a bit more about death (and life) in her own uniquely entertaining way.

Like Venice Noir’s main panels, the event is free, though you will need a pass to be in the festival itself of course. But we do advise booking since space is limits to 150 people. To do that just go here.

I’m incredibly grateful to my volunteer colleagues, Philip, Silvia Bandolin, Marco Vidal and Gregory Dowling in Venice for their help in putting this together, and in the UK Patsy Irwin who has coordinated our media side. And, of course, the fine folk at Harrogate without whom we’d never have got off the ground in the first place.

Avanti!