Regrettably and with a heavy heart we have made the very difficult decision to cancel Byron Writers Festival 2021, which was scheduled to run from 6-8 August.

We have been following Covid developments in Greater Sydney and nationally very closely over the last few days. As positive cases continue to emerge and borders are closed to NSW, it has become clear that the current restrictions will push too close to the Festival to make it feasible to proceed in early August. Especially given a large portion of participating writers are located in either Greater Sydney or interstate and are subject to travel restrictions. In addition, of course, is growing community hesitancy to travel in such volatile circumstances.

Our primary and abiding concern is, as ever, the health of everyone involved in the Festival – presenters, attendees, volunteers, staff and of course the safety of the wider Northern Rivers community.

We are devastated and we’re sure everyone associated with the Festival will also feel the disappointment and loss that comes with a second year of cancellation. We will continue to watch developments and consider all viable options for future programming but for now, we believe that cancellation is the only responsible course of action.

We offer our sincere thanks for your support and please, stay safe.

Information for ticket holders

If you have bought a ticket to Byron Writers Festival 2021 you will automatically receive a refund within the next 14 days. We’ll process the price of your tickets to the card you booked with—so there’s no need to contact us.

We’ll get in touch if there are any issues processing your refund. If you bought a ticket in person at the Festival Office, we will contact you via phone in the coming days to arrange your refund.

If you have purchased tickets to Satellite Events or Festival Workshops, please bear with us as we work through refund arrangements with event partners and venues.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Donate to Byron Writers Festival

As a not-for-profit organisation run with a small team of staff and volunteers, donations of any size go a long way in enriching the creative culture of our community and contributing to the success of future Festivals. Donations over $2 are tax deductible. Thank you!