Catch up on the highlights from the 500 Words final.
The 500 Words 2023/24 grand final
The competition's final took place at Buckingham Palace earlier this year, where 50 finalists were invited by Her Majesty The Queen, to celebrate the stories and find out who the winners were in both categories.
Each winner was announced by a celebrity guest reader, these were; Tom Hiddleston, Oti Mabuse, Olivia Dean, Luke Evans, Alisha Weir and Hugh Bonneville.
The star-studded event was hosted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan. Also in attendance were our official judges, Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon and Sir Lenny Henry.
Speaking at the final, Her Majesty The Queen said: 鈥淚n the three years that we have been without this wonderful competition, I think we have realised how much we have missed it.鈥
The winners were revealed in a special programme with The One Show on World Book Day, 7 March. You can watch the programme on 大象传媒 iPlayer, or alternatively, watch the celebrity guests read the winning stories here.
From magical performances, to enticing stories, read aloud for the very first time, here is everything you need to know about the 500 Words 2023 grand final.
2023 special guests and celebrity judges
After selecting the winners in judging session that was also hosted by Buckingham Palace, our celebrity judges were there to watch the winners collect their awards. Our judges even got the chance to meet the writers behind the stories they loved so much.
The 500 Words competition offers the chance for more than just finalists to attend the final. Following a random draw, three volunteer judges were invited to the final as a random draw, as well as a story writer and their parent.
500 Words 2023 winners
The gold, silver and bronze winners of both categories had their stories read by our celebrity guest readers.
The six winners won lots of prizes, which include books for themselves and their schools and original artwork of their story from some of the UK's best children鈥檚 book illustrators.
Swipe through the gallery below to reveal the winners. You can watch their celebrity readings here, or you can listen to the top 50 finalists here.
Image caption, The gold winner for the 5-7 age group is Evan from London. His story, Message in a Bottle was read by singer Olivia Dean. Evan said: 鈥淚 like writing descriptions, letters and diaries.鈥
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Who performed at the final?
The audience were blown away by an opening performance from dancer Skylar, who was also joined by the talented Capital Choir. Together, they performed a special rendition of 鈥楶ure Imagination鈥 from 鈥榃onka鈥, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Later, the cast of Matilda the Musical took to the stage and performed 鈥榃hen I Grow Up鈥 from the hit West End show.
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Back to 500 Words
Click here for more information on 500 Words.
An overview of 500 Words
Here's everything you need to know for 500 Words, the UK鈥檚 most successful children鈥檚 writing competition.
The top 50 finalists of 2023/24. audio
Read or listen to the top 50 stories that made it to the 2023/24 final.
