Festival FAQs

Byron Writers Festival 2024 will take place Friday 9 — Sunday 11 August. Schools programming and workshops will be held during Festival week.

The 2024 Festival will be held at Bangalow Showground in Bangalow, a charming village within Byron Shire. Bangalow Showground is a beautiful festival site with the added bonus of the historic A&I Hall indoor venue.

The Bangalow Showground is in the vibrant village of Bangalow in the heart of Byron Shire. It is less than 15 minutes drive from Byron Bay town. From the Showground it is a short walk to the Bangalow village shops and vibrant cafe scene

Parking at Bangalow Showground is $5 per day. You will need to purchase a PARKING PASS along with your ticket to the Festival. The car park opens at 7.30am each day. We encourage carpooling!

A free festival shuttle bus will be operating between the Byron Bay bus interchange (Butler St), Cavanbah Centre (Ewingsdale Rd) and the festival site from Friday 9 – Sunday 11 August. Free car parking is available at Cavanbah Centre for shuttle bus patrons.

The full program of events will be available online from 19 June 2024. The program will include all festival sessions, satellite events and workshops. For program please subscribe to our e-newsletter. Please subscribe to our e-newsletter for writer announcements and ticket release updates.

You certainly do. Access to the festival site is only available to festival pass holders – don’t forget to buy your car pass in advance. A program of separately ticketed feature events, workshops and satellite events – some of them free –  runs in the lead-up to and throughout the main festival weekend. Ticket prices vary and details are released when the full program is announced.

Byron Writers Festival puts particular emphasis on celebrating Australian writers and storytellers, although many of these writers will be of international renown. You may find an international guest scattered among the line-up, but our philosophy ensures that Australian writing is of core significance in the program.

No! Byron Writers Festival is all about words and ideas, perfect for all readers, writers and thinkers. Most attend to listen to contemporary writers, engage with new ideas, meet other curious-minded people and fall in love with new books.

Byron Writers Festival is a 3-day celebration of storytelling, literature and big ideas covering everything from fiction, memoir, the environment, politics and social issues.

We have a purpose-built festival site at the beautiful Bangalow Showground, with five main venues filled with conversations, panels, readings, lectures and performances running concurrently. Most sessions are 45 min – 1 hour in length, and you can sit and listen for an entire session or wander between venues as the fancy takes you.

There’s coffee, food and market stalls as well as a splendid bookshop run by The Book Room Collective. Most authors will be in the book signing area after their sessions. On Festival Sunday, one marquee is turned over to children’s authors and the kids can have a special day meeting their favourites. In the evening, you can enjoy additional feature events in the A&I Hall and satellite events around the region.

Selected sessions from the main program are interpreted. Head to our festival program page and look for the Auslan interpreting symbol next to sessions. See our Accessibility page for more information.

Limited disabled parking is available and our parking volunteers will direct you accordingly. Please have your sticker on display. Don’t forget to pre purchase your car pass before arriving at the Festival.

Marquees and stages have wheelchair accessible allocated seating. Please make yourself known to the marquee supervisor and you will be ushered accordingly.

Byron Writers Festival is curated by the Artistic Director and programming committee, in wide consultation with publishers and industry bodies. Participation is by invitation only. The Programming Committee does not accept unsolicited submissions, and due to the large quantity of messages we receive, we are not always able to reply to individual pitches. The program gives a broad definition to the concept of writing and incorporates many genres.

Festival opportunities and competitions are listed on our website as they arise. We encourage people to subscribe to our e-newsletter for opportunity and competition announcements.

The Byron Writers Festival is organised by a small dedicated team of staff, contractors and a hands on Committee. Any available employment opportunities will always be placed on the festival website.

The Byron Writers Festival relies on its enthusiastic volunteer workforce, with approximately 160 volunteers being rostered before and during the event. More information about volunteering can be found here.

Tickets are emailed to you via our ticketing site, Humanitix. If you have purchased your ticket online or via the telephone, you should receive your tickets via email (note: mailed FROM Humanitix) as a PDF attachment. Be sure to check your junk mail for this email if you can’t find it. PLEASE PRINT YOUR PDF TICKET or download to your smart phone before you come to the Festival to facilitate ease of scanning at the entrance gates. Before you approach the festival gates:

• Have your printed ticket with you, with your barcode visible for scanning, OR
• Have your ticket displayed on your mobile device.

Please go to the festival box office where a staff member will assist you. DO NOT join the queue at the festival gates.

If you have lost your Byron Writers Festival ticket, workshop, special event ticket or membership number, please click here: LOST TICKETS You will just need the email address you booked with. Your lost tickets will be sent from Humanitix, please check your junk email if you can’t find them.

Yes. Once we scan your ticket, you will receive your wristband. You must wear your wristband at all times while at the festival and you may be checked as you enter various venues.

There is no cloakroom at the festival site. If you have baggage or suitcases, you will need to arrange your own safe storage.

Unfortunately, we do not offer phone-charging services. Please come fully charged up!

Lost property is located at the Festival Information Booth. All unclaimed items will be returned to the Festival office and will need to be picked up from there after the festival weekend has concluded.

Byron Writers Festival is a plastic water bottle free event. Please BYO bottles for refills. There will be a water refill station on site, and Byron Writers Festival water bottles for sale at the Information and Merchandise tent.

Yes! A range of food stalls will be serving delicious local meals throughout each day of the festival from our food marquee.

Printed programs are distributed in the Byron Shire Echo upon program announcement and will be available during festival weekend at the festival entrance and Festival Information Tent. Please note our printed program is subject to last minute changes. An up-to-date daily program of sessions is available from our website. Keep a look out at the festival site for signage and handouts advising of unavoidable last-minute program changes.

Yes.