ilkley is home to the largest and oldest literary festival in the north of england, the ilkley literature festival. the 1984 british comedy film "a private function", written by alan bennett, was filmed in ilkley and ben rhydding. the town was also one of the locations used for the 2003 british comedy film "calendar girls". the bbc programme psychoville is set, in part, in ilkley. the "ilkley gazette" is the town's weekly newspaper.