Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Nicola Sturgeon and Alan Cumming among full line up revealed for Scottish festival

McDermid will be in conversation with the former First Minister at the Winter Words Festival in Pitlochry, while Rebus author Mr Rankin will speak to Mr Cumming, who is the curator of the festival.

Cumming, who will take to the DJ box with a Saturday night set, will also speak to Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen about his career across stage, screen, and page.

Over the four days from 12 to 15 February, Pitlochry Festival Theatre will host a programme of events, performances, literary lunches and conversations.

The festival, now in its 21st year, is one of a number of events on the calendar in Pitlochry, where Cumming took over as the theatre’s artistic director last year. The actor and presenter recently announced his Out in the Hills festival, which will take place in January and is billed as a “celebration of queer culture”. Meanwhile, the US Traitors host’s first season’s programming at the helm of the theatre saw him scrap the historic repertory theatre structure.

Winter Words also includes conversations with the journalist Jen Stout about her experience reporting from Russo-Ukrainian war; British environmentalist and writer Jonathon Porritt on his new book Love, Anger & Betrayal and about the recent climate conference in Brazil and an event featuring photographer David Eustace, who will reflect on his life in conversation with broadcaster and Scotsman columnist Stephen Jardine.

Cumming said: “This year's Winter Words is beyond eclectic, and like all good literature explores the now and celebrates the then. We feature literary titans like Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman, and Scottish masters like Alasdair Gray and George Byatt. We have talks and play readings and poetry and even a crafting workshop.

“We cover politics and the environment and mountaineering and gardens and football and photography and painting and food, with appearances by Ian Rankin, Nicola Sturgeon, Hannah Lavery, Heather Parry, Val McDermid, Alastair Moffat, Sally Magnusson and Jonathon Porritt, and that Alan Cumming will be DJing a great big dance party again. There is truly something for everyone, and it's all happening here.”

Other events on offer include a series of literary lunches with Gareth Cole, owner of Café Canna , believed to be the most remote restaurant in the UK; Pam Brunton, the acclaimed Scottish chef behind Inver restaurant on Loch Fyne, and Perthshire philosopher-chef Tom Lewis.

Meanwhile, there will be rehearsed readings by Shomit Dutta and Alan Cumming of Dutta’s new play Rough with the Smooth which tells the story of an encounter by Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman; a new stage adaptation by Anne Downie of the 1958 film Another Time, Another Place; and House of Lies by the Scottish playwright George Byatt, which will be directed by his son Andrew Byatt. As well as readings there will be interactive workshops with author Anne Brusatte and palaeontologist Steve Brusatte, who will tell the story of how birds evolved from ferocious meat-eating dinosaurs millions of years ago.

Journalist and author Dan Richards will be talking to Jo Sharp about the life of his great great aunt, the pioneering mountaineer of the early 20th century, while the theatre’s own landscape and garden manager, Caroline Bavey, will be talking to Mr Cumming about her new book which explorers the history and beauty of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Explorers Garden.