FAQ

Byron Writers Festival 2025 will take place from 8—10 August at Bangalow Showground on Bundjalung Country. Our Schools Days and workshops will be held during festival week.

Bangalow Showground is located on Bundjalung Country in the charming village of Bangalow in the heart of the Byron Shire. The festival site is 15 minutes drive from Byron Bay township.

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 six 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.

Enjoy coffee, food and market stalls and our festival bookshop run by The Book Room Collective. Most authors will be in the book signing area after their sessions for you to meet and grab an autograph.

On Sunday morning, the Lilly Pilly and Coolamon tents host our beloved Kids Program, or make a night of it on Friday and Saturday evenings in the A&I Hall with our Feature events, bar and food available.

Satellite events around the Northern Rivers region are hosted by community partners, some of them free.

Writers can explore and deepen their craft and learn from the best with one of our Festival Workshops.

‍

The full festival program will be released on 11 June 2025. The program will include all festival sessions, feature & satellite events and workshops. Printed programs will be in the 11 June edition of the Byron Shire Echo and at libraries, bookshops, galleries and cafe locations around the Northern Rivers.

Full descriptions of sessions and authors will be listed on our website.

Not at all. Byron Writers Festival is about ideas and conversation and is for readers, writers and thinkers of all ages and walks of life. Many attend to hear contemporary writers, engage with new ideas, meet other curious-minded people and fall in love with new books.

All sessions in the main festival program require a festival pass to access. Remember to buy your car pass in advance.

‍

• 3-day Pass — with a 3-day pass, you can enjoy over 100 sessions spanning Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wander between all programmed venues and enjoy the natural surrounds, food and market stalls, browse the book shop, meet your favourite authors at book signings and explore our curated sculpture walk
• 1-day Pass — If you prefer a shorter visit, we offer 1-day passes which allow you full festival access to attend all sessions on your nominated day (available from full program release)
• Kids Program — Experience our special Kids Program on Sunday morning with the whole family, fostering a love of literature for future generations (available from full program release)
• Feature & Satellite Events — Join us for a series of separately ticketed events featuring guests from the Byron Writers Festival 2025 program (available from full program release)
• Festival Workshops — Hone your craft and learn from the best with one of our Byron Writers Festival 2025 Workshops (available from full program release)

A program of separately ticketed feature events, workshops and satellite events – some of them free –  runs prior to and throughout the main festival weekend. Ticket prices vary and details are released when the full program is announced.

‍

All tickets are non-refundable but fully tranferable, if you can no longer attend, send a friend.

Tickets are non-refundable but fully transferable. If you can no longer attend, send a friend! Full terms and conditions can be found here

Parking onsite at Bangalow Showground is available. You will need to purchase a $10 parking pass along with your festival ticket. The car park opens at 7:30am each day. We encourage carpooling!

A free shuttle bus will be operating between the Byron Bay bus interchange (Butler St), Cavanbah Centre (Ewingsdale Rd) and the festival site from Friday 8—Sunday 10 August. Free car parking is available at Cavanbah Centre for shuttle bus patrons.

For shuttle bus timetable, visit our travel page.

There is dedicated disabled parking onsite, our parking volunteers will direct you to the nearest available space. Please note that due to demand, these are strictly limited to those with Australian Disability Parking Permits, which need to be clearly displayed. A festival parking pass is required and may be purchased with your festival pass.

We have specific seating areas dedicated to accessiblity within every venue, ask a friendly volunteer usher for assistance.

Selected sessions from the main program will be Auslan interpreted. Head to our festival program page and check the Info Booth onsite at the festival. See our accessibility page for more information.

Our festival sessions are in marquees and venues that allow exploration and discovery. All seats are general admission and not allocated. There are specific areas dedicated to accessiblity, ask a friendly volunteer usher for assistance.

Yes, we love our volunteers, they are the heart and soul of our festival. Applications generally open in May each year and are now closed for the 2025 festival.

For more information on how to get involved, see our volunteer page. Make sure to sign up to our mailing list and socials to stay in the know.

Thanks for your interest, Byron Writers Festival is curated by our 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.

Our collection of local food & beverage and artisan market stallholders are curated by invitation only. If you would like to be considered, please email info@byronwritersfestival.com